
Ida-Virumaal muudetakse omavalitsuste piire
Municipal Borders to Be Changed in Ida-Viru County
Ida-Virumaal on omavalitsuste piirid segased. Piirid läbivad külasid ja isegi maju. Omavalitsused räägivad, kuidas piire paremaks teha.
In Ida-Viru County, municipal borders are confusing. The borders run through villages and even houses. Municipalities discuss how to improve the borders.
Marek Kullamägi, the mayor of Alutaguse municipality, says that municipal borders should be logical. A road or forest could serve as a border. Currently, the borders are confusing. For example, in one house, two-thirds are in Alutaguse municipality and one-third is in the city of Kohtla-Järve.
Alutaguse municipality wants to change borders with Jõhvi municipality and the city of Kohtla-Järve. A land swap is proposed to Jõhvi. Discussions with Kohtla-Järve concern the village of Ereda. One-third of Ereda village is in Kohtla-Järve city, and two-thirds are in Alutaguse municipality.
Alutaguse municipality takes care of Ereda village, even though part of the village is in Kohtla-Järve city. Alutaguse municipality wants five farms from Kohtla-Järve. Marek Kullamägi believes that the farms are better suited to the municipality than to the city.
Kohtla-Järve mayor Henri Kaselo believes that Ereda village should be in Alutaguse municipality. However, the transfer of land is a lengthy process. Kohtla-Järve also discusses the village of Tammiku with Jõhvi municipality. The larger part of Tammiku village is in Jõhvi municipality, while the smaller part is in Kohtla-Järve city.
Henri Kaselo says that the borders are illogical. Villages and mining areas are split in half. He believes it would be better to carry out an administrative reform. Ida-Viru County could have two large municipalities: one with a center in Jõhvi or Kohtla-Järve and another with Narva, Narva-Jõesuu, and Sillamäe.
Henri Kaselo believes that the loss of voting rights for non-citizens could help merge municipalities. Previously, there were fears that non-citizens were not loyal to Estonia. Now that decision has been made, and the fears are smaller. Kaselo thinks that the state should help Ida-Viru municipalities with the merger.