RIGA, April 28 (LETA) - The would-be Tukums region should be included in the Kurzeme planning region, the local council decided on Wednesday. 

At present, the Tukums region is a part of the Riga planning region, but as the number of municipalities are being reduced in the process of Latvia's administrative territorial reform, the distribution of municipalities among planning regions is changing as well.

Members of the Tukums regional council hope that the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry, which has to take the final decision on the proposal, will listen to the local government's opinion.

The council argues that the Tukums region belongs to the Kurzeme planning region because of its geographic location and that it has more in common with other western Latvian municipalities than with the Riga planning region.