Last update - 00:00 22/05/2007
J'lem refuses to let Gaydamak put Sderot evacuees in park
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
The Jerusalem Municipality refused on Tuesday to allow billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak to evacuate Sderot residents to Sacher Park in the capital, saying the park is not suited to absorb the evacuees and that it is adjacent to a major road.
The municipality offered to let Gaydamak provide the evacuees with accommodation at a Jerusalem resort hotel, but Gaydamak turned down the offer, announcing that he would instead establish the tent city in Tel Aviv's Park Hayarkon.
The municipality said in response that "Gaydamak's refusal to accept the offer is unfortunate."
"It appears that Gaydamak is determined to turn Sderot residents into beggars in the city center instead of granting them humane living conditions," the statement continued.
The Jerusalem Municipality has provided some 500 Sderot evacuees with accommodation at Shalom Hotel Jerusalem.
Gaydamak has on numerous occasions provided Sderot residents with accommodations outside the embattled town in order to provide them with a respite from the ongoing Qassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
An aide to the billionaire said that as of Friday the number of families evacuated courtesy of Gaydamak stood at 450 ? over 2,000 people.