Last update - 00:00 28/12/2007
Environment Ministry sanctions likely to cause water shortages
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondnet
Work stoppages at the Ministry of Environment are likely to threaten the country's water supply, industrial activity and refuse treatment in the coming days. Ministry employees are demanding that their salaries be upgraded to the same level as their counterparts in other government offices.
The most immediate threat posed by the work stoppages is to the water supply, as Mekorot, the national water supplier, will not be able to renew its license to use chlorine in the water supply.
Environment Minister Gideon Ezra Thursday refused to push his staff to prepare Mekorot's annual permit. "We tried to resolve the problem by talking to the Treasury, but to date we have not been successful," Ezra said. "We have another meeting with them on Sunday. Hopefully we will find a solution," he added.
"We have sufficient chlorine for use for several weeks," said Danny Sofer, director of the central region at Mekorot, Thursday.
"In any case, we will supply water but we will be in violation of the law if we use chlorine, because we will lack a valid permit to use chemicals, but would also be in violation if we provide water without chlorine, because the health code requires that we use materials for improving the water quality."
Earlier this week, Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association in Israel, called on Ezra to take action to bring the work stoppages to an end. Brosh explained that industry needed the ministry to renew permits for handling dangerous materials, or their importation
into the country.