The Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) should continue developing to face modern challenges. This ministry needs to become a leader in state development and modernisation of public administration, covering both the central government and various municipalities, says VARAM minister Māris Sprindžuks.
According to the minister, separate sectors and individual ministries cannot serve as the foundation for Latvia’s development. The foundation should consist of citizens, their interests and their opportunities.
“When making political development-related decisions, the state needs to rely on the resources available in regions and residents’ interests,” said Sprindžuks.
Sprindžuks explains that the objective of VARAM is making management cheaper and more efficient. He adds it is necessary to automate and digitise data exchange process. He also believes it is necessary to drop the classic state administration organisation under which each institution lives in its own world, its own building and its own closed information system.
“The state administration platform needs to become more accessible and focus on the creation of shared infrastructure. It is essential to further improve the governance of the country’s digital development, including by reorganising the State Regional Development Agency into the State Digital Agency and entrusting it with the coordinating role of the digital transformation of the entire public administration, where it will play a crucial role in making the functioning of the entire public administration more efficient,” says Sprindžuks.
The minister believes the State Digital Agency, the creation of which is underway, should centrally maintain many of the administration’s support functions, such as public procurement, public service portal (latvija.gov.lv), etc., the election platform, it should develop a platform for the dissemination and management of public data (DAGRIS).
“The agency’s development should be closely tied to the centralisation of public administration support functions,” said the minister.
At the same time, VARAM needs to start an institutional reform in environment and nature protection in order to reduce the administrative burden while also providing greater authority to municipalities, as well as ensuring greater and direct public involvement in the protection of the environment and natural values.
Politicians and officials should involve residents and businessmen in decision-making, because both the legal and institutional framework for such action are established in Latvia – local governments operate and planning regions are established as well.
VARAM minister’s request to create a special committee of the Cabinet of Ministers for the coordination of regional inter-industrial policy was not considered seriously by the last government in Latvia.
Sprindžuks says there are several priority sectors in VARAM’s sights – in cooperation with Latvian society it is necessary to create a plan for the adoption of Nature Restoration Regulation.
The ministry needs to continue reforming the municipal planning system by arranging spatial planning for development planning and making it more flexible, concurrently strengthening the responsibility of local governments for the implementation of planning documents and binding regulations. It is also necessary to start working on the state development planning document’s contents on the basis of the breakdown of planning regions (Kurzeme, Zemgale, Rīga, Vidzeme, Latgale).
VARAM also needs to adopt measures listed in the Waste management plan for 2021-2028 and improve waste management in general, legislation that governs natural resource tax, as well as change the underground resource management policy.
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