Municipal association calls for more support in the event of natural disasters
Published: Wednesday, Sep 18th 2024, 03:40
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The new President of the Swiss Association of Communes, Green Party member of the Council of States Mathias Zopfi, has called for more support from the federal government and cantons for communal politicians in the event of natural disasters. Municipalities are particularly affected by climate change, he said.
In his new role as head of the Association of Local Authorities (SGV), he therefore wants to place greater emphasis on climate policy, said Zopfi in an interview with CH Media published on Wednesday.
The Glarus Councillor of States said that the landslide in Schwanden GL, for example, showed just how much local politicians are challenged by natural disasters. The local councillor and craftsman responsible, Markus Marti (SVP), had hardly been able to get any work done since then. "The federal and cantonal governments need to do even more to support these people," said the SGV President.
Maintain personal responsibility
However, the municipalities should not be patronized, but rather empowered to solve their tasks themselves, he said. On the other hand, municipalities should assume their responsibility "and not push tasks upwards at the first headwind".
The 40-year-old Glarner took over the presidency of the association in July. Previously, Hannes Germann, a member of the SVP Council of States from Schaffhausen, headed the association for 16 years. The Green politician said that the municipal association would not move to the left as a result of the change. The board functions like a municipal council and has representatives from all parties. The association wants to represent the "entire breadth of our municipalities", said Zopfi.
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