Comptroller report says port construction is detrimental to environment
The Environmental Protection Agency suggested that the best thing would be to increase the supply output from the already-existing ports in the country.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA general view shows seagulls in Ashdod port as a storm approaches Israel's shores January 4, 2018(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
An audit report by Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman stated that there may have serious consequences to expanding marinas and ports along the Israeli coast."They may narrow the shores, thus increasing the damage to the cliffs, harming the planned physical protections on the cliffs and draining the large investments of the state and the local authorities in the planning and establishment of these protections," he said, according to Israel's Ynet News.The Environmental Protection Agency suggested that the best thing would be to increase the supply output from the already-existing ports in the country instead of the national plan, which has been promoted throughout the past four years by the Planning Administration to build marinas on the shores of the state.The National Planning and Building Council determined that the Planning Administration's four-year-old plan, which is intended to build marinas along the shores of the state, is intended to outline the policies which may allow for such construction which is needed by the sailing industries.The plan was outlined to specifically take into account ecological aspects, Ynet reported."It is important that, before the marina plan is approved, it should also be examined by those responsible for the promoting the physical protection of the [shore], including the Environmental Protection Ministry, the Cliff Protection Society and local authorities, and other environmental factors," Engelman said, according to Ynet. "They must examine the marinas and the extent of their impact on the environment and the implications of the construction of marinas for the planned solutions of protection of the cliff and for those that already began implementation."However, the plan was appealed in October of 2018 by the National Unit for the Protection of the Marine Environment, which stated that although it understands the importance of allowing such developments for the sake of maritime education, there may be other solutions that are less harmful to the country's shores.The Environmental Protection Agency noted that several locations were already proposed for such ports, but finally ruled that they must not be further considered as such construction may harm the flow of sand, Ynet reported.
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