A week ago Wednesday, the Local Committee for Planning and
Construction in Jerusalem dealt with the changes of the
city's plans regarding the Warburg land plot in Kiryat
Yovel, situated in the heart of this neighborhood. The
proposal hastily submitted to the committee called for
partial allocation for an aggressively non-religious
institution, with the remainder designed for a communal
cultural and recreational center.
Members of the UTJ faction submitted a plea on behalf of the
religious residents of Kiryat Yovel who suffer from a severe
lack of school facilities, a situation which the
municipality is well familiar with. Schools have had to rent
private buildings for kindergartens, running in the millions
of shekel taken from communal funds, for rental alone. In
addition, dozens of students are forced to be bussed to
Bayit Vegan due to the lack of neighborhood school
accommodations.
The aforementioned plot could accommodate several
kindergartens which would be built from a budget of the
Education Ministry, especially since in this period, permits
are being allocated within the agenda of Trachtenberg
committee.
The Degel HaTorah and Shas representatives, as well as the
rest of the local committee representatives, were shocked to
learn that the mayor issued a change in the plans, as
revealed to the press, calling for this public land, which
had been earmarked for educational facilities, to be rezoned
for a communal center for culture and recreation. This move
was made swiftly and clandestinely, without informing the
large public sector living in Kiryat Yovel, and in total
disregard of all the rules which govern municipal policy, as
it were.
The file was opened on October 21th and brought to committee
discussion on the 24th of October, only three days later.
It is shocking to see how the common citizen and his
communal needs must wait interminably, sometimes for years,
for municipal approval, whereas here, such a vital issue was
consummated with three days!
