GOLD Report I - UCLG

217palities’ areas of responsibility 35 . In Oman,the Ministry of Regional Municipalities,Water, and the Environment has done thesame. But several national constitutionsremain vague on the subject, mentioningonly the major sectors of planning, health,and education: or nothing at all. Where theyexist, ordinary laws and statutory instrumentsfor their implementation retain thislegal vagueness. The predictable result isoverlapping of areas of responsibility, whichis highly prejudicial to the efficiency of localgovernment work.Again, Turkey provides the exception. Therea modus vivendi seems to have been establishedbetween the municipalities andthe Special Provincial Administrations (SPAs),with each providing services according toits ability. Such is the case for environmentalconcerns shared by municipalitiesand the National Administration for theProtection of the Environment, and alsofor collective housing issues addressedjointly by local authorities and the NationalAdministration for Collective Housing.The distribution of responsibilities is alsoorganized on a territorial basis. In territorieswhere there is a metropolitan municipality,the municipality is responsible formost services; this accounts for the presentexplosion in expenditure. This alsooccurs within the administrative area of anormal municipality; in areas not dependenton either, the SPAs are responsible forproviding services. The recently legislatedreorganization of responsabilities has alsocontributed to this development.Unlike Lebanon and Jordan, Turkey does nothave a general competence clause of municipalities.At the present time, the main responsibilitiesof local bodies, particularly themunicipalities, are urban planning, publictransport and communications, water supply,sanitation, and the treatment of solid waste.Law no. 5302 added economic action, althoughwhat exactly this covers is less clearfor municipalities than for SPAs. The law alsoconfirmed the pre-existing situation of theinvolvement of the municipalities in themaintenance of school buildings and the provisionof the necessary supplies. However,the provision permitting municipalities toopen preschool establishments was suspendedby the Constitutional Court 36 on thegrounds that this runs counter to the spirit ofthe constitution, for which education isstrictly a state prerogative.Everywhere else, almost all the responsibilitiesare carried out by the central governmentthrough its ministries, leaving themunicipalities only planning tasks and basicfunctions such as lighting, drainage, highwaymaintenance, and waste collection. Ofcourse, there are exceptions, most notablyJordan where 13 essential service responsibilitieswere taken away from the municipalitiesby the law of 1995. Beirut, Lebanon, isalso a special case. There the provincialgovernor has executive power, the municipalcouncil being a deliberative body. Also inLebanon, the mokhtar has supplanted mostmunicipal authorities in the registration ofbirths, marriages, and deaths. It should benoted that this is the mokhtar’s only real responsibility,though in theory their remit 37covers public order, health, and education.In Jordan, some of the responsibilities thathave been taken away from the municipalitieshave been taken over by private nationaland foreign companies. Similarly, in Lebanonthe state has begun to sign contracts directly,not only without the consent of the municipalities,but sometimes without even informingthem. Such was the case with contracts forstreet cleaning, public lighting, and streetpaving in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Themoney for these contracts is directly withdrawnby the state from the funds of the theoreticalIndependent Municipal Fund. Hopefor more profitable public services inducedPalestine’s central government to enlist theprivate sector to manage services that requirea high level of investment for infrastructureconstruction and maintenance —water,electricity, and sanitation.Administrative checking and central governmentsupervision. In a decentralized coun-35. For the precise list,see the ‘SaudiCommerce andEconomic Review’,November 2004. Itcan nevertheless benoted that streetcleaning, publichealth, townplanning, (viceministerof townplanning) and themaintenance ofpublic buildings,public transport, andtraffic management(Department ofTransport and TrafficPlanning) all comeunder the authorityof the Ministry ofRural and MunicipalAffairs, with waterdistributioninfrastructures andthe building ofsewers beingadministered by aspecial service thathas seven regionalbranches.36. Notice no. 2005/14.37. Art. 25 and followingof the law on themokhtar.