Publishing date: 08/09/2009
The Northern Regional Planning and Building Committee recently cancelled the plan to expand the Arab town of Mag’d Al-Kroom South in the area between the old and new road 85.
The plan, prepared by the local planning and building committee, proposed the expansion of the town’s jurisdiction boundaries by 400 dunams in order to solve the critical housing problem that the residents face. Today, in this area there exists about 100 buildings that are not properly licensed and under the threat of being demolished.
The Regional Planning and Building Committee, without the presence of representatives from the local council, decided not to accept the proposed plan and even refused to allow the local committee to submit their plan. They closed the case claiming that there is a need from the beginning to find a solution to the sewage problem, as is demanded by the orders in TAMA 34.
This decision of the Regional Planning and Building Committee can adversely affect the remaining plans of the surrounding three towns in the region, Mag’d Al-Kroom, Deir Al-Asad, and Buini, who also suffer from similar problems of lack of available housing. It is important to note that in the past, the Regional Planning and Building Committee agreed to final approval of other plans in the region only after a solution to the sewage problem in the region is found.
The Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP) sent a letter to the Director of the Planning Department within the Ministry of Interior, as well as to the chairman of Northern Region Planning and Building Committee, requesting that the case be re-opened for discussion with the presence of representatives from the local council of Mag’d Al-Kroom that were recently elected.
ACAP believes that the adverse affect that this decision will have on the residents of Mag’d Al-Kroom is two-fold: first, the lack of allocating sufficient budgets needed to solve the sewage problems that affect the residents of Mag’d Al-Kroom and surrounding towns; secondly, the refusal to accept the plan to expand the town’s building area adds to the sewage problem, rather than alleviate it.
ACAP emphasized that the Regional Planning and Building Committee’s decision does not help deal with the problem, rather increases the suffering of the residents, who now have to deal with a lack of housing in the town in addition to the sewage problems.
It is important to recognize that solving the sewage problems of Mag’d Al-Kroom, Deir Al-Asad, and Buini requires tens of millions of shekels. This tremendous amount exceeds the financial capacities of the local Arab municipalities who suffer from low socio-economic status. It is imperative that the State institutions take direct and quick actions in order to alleviate this problem.