The Swiss Cooperation Office helped two Kyrgyz rural municipalities to purchase technical equipment for garbage disposal

Today, on 25th September 2012, the Swiss Cooperation Office has solemnly assigned a garbage tractor and an excavator to the local government of Ivanov in the region of Issyk-Ata and to the local government of Lenin in the region of Suzak.

The technical equipment, about 2,2 million soms of value (90 % - grant, 10 % - from the local budget), has been transferred with the purpose to improve the municipality services to the population. The assistance was provided within the framework of the project «Strengthening Voice and Accountability: Citizens’ participation and oversight of budget processes”, which is realized by the Development Policy Institute with the financial support of the Government of Switzerland.

«During several months the Local Self Government bodies in close cooperation with the community studied village citizens’ needs and developed projects responding to urgent local problems. Then the projects passed to a wide public discussion and by the decision of the local council session, the local budgets were adapted reflecting the requirements of the communities, - said Mr. Laurent Guye, the Regional Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office to the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan. It is important that similar procedures are implemented into the practice of Local Self Government bodies in order that the municipalities – and not the donors - study needs and make decisions on expenditure of granted means according to the needs of the population».

«Usually donors buy technical equipment directly and hand it over to communities as a ready gift. But it is not enough just to hand overresources to municipalities, it is necessary to show how to deal with it correctly: the process from assessing the needs to the realization of the purchase, and every step according to legislation, - said Mr.Bekbolot Bekiev, the manager of the project «Strengthening Voice and Accountability: Citizens’ participation and oversight of budget processes». In this case all granted means have been transferred to the local budgets of the rural municipalities. Local Self Government employees - after being trained at the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance - held tenders and realized the purchases independently».

This assistance has been provided within the framework of the project «Strengthening Voice and Accountability: Citizens’ participation and oversight of budget processes”. This project aims at strengthening the right of citizens to have access to budget information and to express their views on how it should be spent. Through an investment fund, the project also enhances the resources that local self governments can avail of in order to deliver quality public services. The Government of Switzerland will contribute about CHF 6 million (more than 300 million soms) for the realization of this project over the period 2011-2020.

For more details please contact Nurgul Jamankulova, PR specialist of the Development Policy Institute, tel.: (0555) 313-385, (0770) 771-711, e-mail: njamankulova@dpi.kg, web-site: www.vap.kg