City notes

Interior Ministry joins fight against illegal building in Safed.

By MICHAEL OMER-MAN
KINDERGARTEN BEGINS in Migron 370 (photo credit: Tovah Lazaroff)
KINDERGARTEN BEGINS in Migron 370
(photo credit: Tovah Lazaroff)
NORTH
The Interior Ministry joined municipal officials in Safed this week in efforts to protect the city’s historical and cultural character, demolishing a two-story building in its Old City, the Local website reported.
Following a government decision to help develop and preserve the Old City, the ministry collaborated with the local planning and building authorities to stop the phenomenon of illegal building in Safed, according to the report. As part of the enforcement operation, officials mapped building violations throughout the city, issuing orders to stop illegal construction and the employment of unlicensed contractors.
The building demolished this week was on public land, according to the report. The demolition was carried out with the cooperation of the ministry, a local planning committee and the Israel Police, Local reported.
Nahariya kindergarten teachers to get laptops
Kindergarten teachers in Nahariya will be receiving laptop computers in the next few weeks as part of the “Laptop for Every Teacher in Israel” program, the Local website reported.
“We were very happy and excited about the inclusion of kindergarten teachers [and] kindergarten directors in Nahariya,” the report quoted Dr. Orna Simhon, the Education Ministry’s Northern District director, as saying.
Haifa moves toward environmentally friendly dumpsters
The Haifa Municipality’s sanitation department has begun a process of replacing older garbage dumpsters with more environmentally friendly plastic containers, the Local website reported.
According to the municipality, the metal dumpsters run the risk of becoming health hazards due to the formation of rust, which could eat through the bottom of the containers, allowing oils and fluids to permeate the ground and runoff water, the report said. The open containers also increase the numbers of street cats, flies, odors and maggots.
Furthermore, the heavy weight of the metal dumpsters requires heavier-duty trucks to collect trash, which consume more fuel and contribute to air pollution, according to the report.
Haifa municipal sanitation director Nathan Amram said his department would continue working to reduce the number of containers placed in public spaces to the absolute minimum.
“As someone who has worked for many years in the acquisition of sanitation equipment, from compactor trucks to home garbage cans, I do not remember such a swift process for replacing containers,” Local quoted him as saying.
Acre joins ‘healthy workers’ program
The Acre Municipality has announced its participation in a program to promote healthy workplaces under the title of the Association of Public Health. The program, “Healthy Workers in Successful Organizations,” is designed to achieve sustainable improvements in health and welfare, the Local website reported.
The five-month program will be available to municipal employees and will include a wide range of activities and services, ranging from lectures on health to group weight-loss programs, group exercise activities, and ergonomic office advice and design, according to the report. The National Insurance Institute is funding the program.
Acre Mayor Shimon Lankry welcomed the initiative, saying it would greatly contribute to the welfare of municipal employees and help them maintain their health, Local reported.
CENTER
TA to open CCTV command-and-control center
The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality recently completed the construction and setup of a command-andcontrol center connected to closed-circuit security cameras deployed throughout the city, the Local website reported.
The city expects the command center to begin operating within weeks as it completes staffing the facility. The goals of the new project are to provide real-time information about urban spaces and thereby maintain public order and improve personal security for the city’s residents, according to the report. The center will operate 24 hours a day, initially monitoring 57 cameras that have been installed in the Naveh Sha’anan neighborhood – including 20 in the Levinsky area – and 80 cameras in the Shapira neighborhood, Local reported.
In the near future, the city plans to deploy additional cameras in Jaffa.