A major investigation has found many financial problems in the city government of Limassol. The audit, which looked at the years 2021 to 2024, shows a long-term culture of not managing money responsibly. It also raises serious questions about who is responsible for controlling the city's spending.
The report says the city government broke public sector rules with its staff policies. For example, sixteen employees were put on special pay scales, even though this was against the rules. The city also moved traffic officers to other jobs without following the correct process, using direct orders from the mayor or council.
The money problems go beyond staff pay. Spending on overtime pay increased by a huge 176% since 2017, reaching over €1.3 million. The audit found that this overtime was approved without anyone checking if the hours were really worked. At the same time, staff allowances grew by 44%, even though this broke the law. In one bad case, a senior official received about €100,000 in overtime pay but did not use the required system to record his time.
City representatives say they needed more overtime because they could not hire new staff. However, auditors are not sure if this is a good enough reason for ignoring financial rules. They believe there are bigger problems in the system.
This situation shows wider issues in Cyprus's public sector. It seems that political connections are often more important than skills when hiring people. The public is now watching this case closely, especially as people are dealing with higher living costs. The Audit Service has asked the city to explain all these problems by December 8.