The results of the “Municipalities Satisfaction Survey,” prepared by the Girne Research Institute (GAE), which operates under Girne American University (GAU), were announced yesterday at the Arabahmet Cultural Center.
GAE has carried out a serious research project: 32 interviewers collected data through face-to-face interviews with 801 people in 691 households across the country. The survey methodology is very successful, but the same cannot be said of the current municipal administrations when it comes to the results. The findings paint such a picture that all the municipalities are plainly failing to deliver services. Indeed, 49% of respondents believe that municipalities have sufficient sources of revenue and that these revenues are being misused by the municipalities.
In other words, citizens are saying, “Don’t keep whining that you have no money, you mayors. Your revenues are sufficient, but you are failing to use them properly and provide services.”
In my view, one of the survey’s most striking findings concerns whether the government should have the authority to remove mayors from office. Look: 49% of respondents agree that governments should have the authority to dismiss municipal administrations, while 33% believe the government should not have such authority. In my view, that is by no means an insignificant proportion: half the public approves of the government dismissing someone the public elected as mayor. But the curious thing is that the municipalities are so unsuccessful that, like someone who clings to a snake after falling into the sea, citizens can see the government as their rescuer.
Another finding concerns the much-debated issue in our country of villages being incorporated into municipalities. While 47% of the public view this positively, 27% view it negatively. I remember the debates on this issue, and it seems those discussions were in vain.
When it comes to the administrations of our country, employment inevitably becomes a topic of discussion. The survey asked the public about this as well. While 48% of the public believe municipalities engage in unnecessary hiring, 26% think the hiring is not unnecessary.
The comparison between the fees charged by municipalities and the services they provide paints an even graver picture. With the exception of 5.9% of the public, citizens are not at all satisfied with the cost of services.
The survey also has striking and thought-provoking findings on various other issues. Taken as a whole, it slaps us in the face with one truth: respondents are essentially saying, “There is a severe lack of local governance, and there is no such thing as public service!”
Do you think there is?
At this point, I believe current mayors and those who want to become mayors should obtain this survey and study it carefully. After reviewing it, they should sit down and think long and hard, then develop their projects accordingly...
See you next week...
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