Top Stories
Ministry presents plan for Latvia's municipal reform
Last Updated: 2019-04-10 23:06 | Xinhua
 Save  Print   E-mail

The number of municipalities in Latvia will be reduced to 35 from 119 under a draft plan, which the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry presented at a news conference on Wednesday.

Presenting the proposed new layout of municipalities, Latvian Environmental Protection and Regional Development Minister Juris Puce stressed that the range of local governments' functions would remain the same in the future.

The idea is to create much larger and economically stronger municipalities around Latvia's largest cities and development centers, which would facilitate the provision of high-quality municipal services for adequate costs, the minister said.

Puce went on to argue that Latvia will be able to save an estimated 120 million euros as a smaller number of local governments means they will need fewer municipal employees. The draft reform plan also calls for cutting the number of local council members to 686 from 1,614.

The Finance Ministry, meanwhile, might revise the local governments' funding schemes.

"This is not the final proposal but a blueprint for debating. The final version will be the result of common work," Puce said, voicing at the same time the resolve to carry through with the reform.

The regional development minister's municipal reform plan will now be debated by local authorities and residents of Latvia's regions. By December 2019, the ministry plans to table the reform's final version to the parliament.

Puce said earlier that he wanted the municipal reform to be completed by the next local elections, which will take place in 2021.

Several local governments have already expressed the wish to hold municipal referendums on the reform plan. Puce said at the news conference he was in favor of taking as democratic approach to the reform as possible.

(Editor:王苏)

Share to 
0
Related Articles:
BACK TO TOP
  • Sports
  • Soccer
  • Basketball
  • Tennis
  • Formula One
  • Athletics
  • Others
  • Entertainment
  • Celebrity
  • Movie & TV
  • Music
  • Theater & Arts
  • Fashion
  • Beauty Pageant
Edition:
Link:    
About CE.cn | About the Economic Daily | Contact us
Copyright 2003-2024 China Economic Net. All right reserved
Ministry presents plan for Latvia's municipal reform
Source:Xinhua | 2019-04-10 23:06
Share to 
0