Anger at plans to spend NIS 10m on new offices

The anger stems from the lack of money to upgrade the sewerage system that is currently pouring raw sewage into the sea.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Deputy Mayor and Greens leader Pe'er Visner is furious that the Dan region municipal sewerage union is planning to spend NIS 10 million to build new offices while saying it has no money to upgrade the sewerage system that is currently pouring raw sewage into the sea, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. Visner says the union is planning to waste public money on itself rather than spending it on actions that would genuinely help the environment. According to the report, the union recently presented plans for a new three-story office block on Rehov Ibn Gvirol to the local Planning and Construction Committee, a move that has angered Visner. The union currently pours sewage into the sea whenever there is a problem in the pipelines, and has been given until 2011 to find an alternative method for dealing with the sewage. "It is a shame that they are wasting public money on offices and not on actions that would really help the environment," Visner said. A union spokesman said the plan had come about because the union's offices were currently divided between two locations in south and central Tel Aviv, and this was causing managerial problems. In addition, the spokesman said the old offices needed renovation, and so it had been decided to combine all functions in one new building.