Housing deals struck with evacuees

Housing Dir.-Gen. Abuav: Not one family 'will remain in hotels in a month.'

By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL, SHIRA TEGER
nitzan caravilla 298.88 (photo credit: Associated Press [file])
nitzan caravilla 298.88
(photo credit: Associated Press [file])
"In a month, not a single [Gush Katif] family will be left in a hotel," Housing Ministry Director General Shmuel Abuav told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. According to the Housing Ministry, of the 250 families still in hotels since the withdrawal from Gaza, 70 families from Neveh Dekalim and 60 families from Ein Tzorim will move to Nitzan, 65 families from Kfar Darom will move to Ashkelon, 25 families from Gadid and 41 families from Netzer Hazani will move to Ein Tzorim (replacing the 60 families moving to Nitzan). Earlier on Tuesday, Abuav announced that in the past several weeks, more than 250 housing units had been completed for Gush Katif evacuees. Other groups, such as families from Elei Sinai, which had been living in a tent camp at the Yad Mordechai junction, were still awaiting a decision from Kibbutz Palmachim as to whether they were welcome there. Ex-Atzmona residents who have been staying in tents near Netivot are now planning to move to Kibbutz Shomriya; the families there will go to the nearby kibbutzim of Gvir and Lahab. In another related development, Disengagement Authority spokesman Chaim Altman said Tuesday that the 60 families from Kfar Darom living in the Paradise Hotel in Beersheba had decided to move to the apartments that had been prepared for them in Ashkelon. The Ministerial Disengagement Committee and the Finance Committee in November approved the construction of 65 temporary housing units in Moshav Amatzya in the Lachish region to house evacuees from Katif and Neveh Dekalim, formerly of Gush Katif. The committees allocated NIS 26 million for the temporary housing, with the plan being for the temporary homes to be replaced by permanent ones. The families are set to sign lease agreements this week. Earlier this month, the families told the Disengagement Authority that they were reconsidering their earlier decision to move into the Ashkelon apartments. Both the Housing Ministry and the Disengagement Authority criticized the families for wasting their money. Then last week the families told the Disengagement Authority that they would need one more week to mull over their housing options. The final decision was made on Tuesday.