The State Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Čedomir Rakić, has addressed today in Šid, on behalf of Minister Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, at the 8th solemn session of the Presidency of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM), dedicated to marking 70 years of the organization’s existence and work on the development, protection and improvement of the position of local self-governments.
Rakić has pointed out that the cooperation between MDULS and SCTM contributes to the full exercising of citizens’ rights at the local level, i.e. to strengthening the independence of Local Self-government Units and achieving gradual decentralization, through coordination and harmonization of interests at the central and local levels. As he said, the common goal is the transformation of administration from regulatory to service-oriented, which starts from the end-users, because local self-government is the first place at which the citizens and the economy meet with administration.
“The first Cooperation Agreement between SCTM and MDULS was signed 20 years ago, which was renewed in 2008 for an indefinite period, meaning that we have been partners in everything we do since then. We are successfully cooperating on the reform of local self-government system, as well as on creating the conditions for efficient and high-quality planning and implementation of measures for further reforms in respect of position of local self-government, by providing the necessary support for achieving efficient, sustainable and democratic local self-government, in accordance with the European standards,” Rakić has said and congratulated the SCTM Presidency on its anniversary.
The President of SCTM and the Mayor of the City of Leskovac, Goran Cvetanović, had reflected on the history and stressed the equal importance of the organization’s work during all seven decades.
“The people who gathered in April 1953 were aware of the circumstances and challenges which lay before them, so they turned to each other in order to share their experiences and learn, which is what we are still doing today. Their most important decision was for the initial gathering to grow into a union of local self-governments, which brought together a large number of cities and municipalities. Today, SCTM deals with all topics of importance for the development of local self-government, primarily through two ways of work – through direct support to the membership in building their capacities, as well as through representation of the interests and needs of local self-governments before the authorities of the Republic of Serbia. For both ways of work, our expert and irreplaceable partners are the line ministries, and especially the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government”, Cvetanović has said and explained that one decade of cooperation with MDULS was thus far characterized by a systematic approach to improving the position of local self-government and its capacities to perform its responsibilities, i.e. to meet the needs of citizens in the best possible way.
The Deputy President of the SCTM and the President of the Municipality of Šid, Zoran Semenović, has expressed his gratitude for the placed trust and organization of the solemn session of the Presidency in Šid.
“The organization of the session in Šid is proof that SCTM takes care of all cities and municipalities evenly, and tries to raise all local self-governments in Serbia to a higher level,” Semenović has said. He had also highlighted the good cooperation between the Municipality of Šid and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, which is supported by the construction of numerous infrastructure facilities in this municipality.
Photo gallery – source: SCTM and the Municipality of Šid
