PMO asks Sderot to use NIS 6m donation for private shelters
PMO: State must fund public shelter repairs; contribution made last week to fix city's uninhabitable facilities.
By Mijal GrinbergThe Prime Minister's Office has demanded that Sderot municipality use a NIS 6 million contribution it has received to repair private bomb shelters only, since the state should be responsible for public bomb shelters.
Municipal officials said they have been waiting six years for the state to fund the renovation of public shelters and would use contribution to carry out much-needed repairs on all shelters requiring them. They also said that the sum provided by the government would be insufficient for the necessary work.
The NIS 6 million was donated to the city last Thursday by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) to refurbish public and private shelters.
At present none of the city's 58 public bomb shelters are suitable for long-term stays, which security officials predict could be necessary under the prolonged bombardment. Sderot has been repeatedly hit by Qassam rockets fired by militants from the Gaza Strip since last week.
PMO Director General Raanan Dinur pledged that a decision would be made in the coming weeks on funding to reinforce homes in communities around Gaza.
Before Jewish holiday Shavuot which was celebrated this week, tycoon Arcadi Gaydamak undertook to fund the operation; Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz then announced that the government would begin the work immediately.
Housing Minister Director General Aryeh Bar said tenders for the work would be issued in three weeks, but restrictions imposed by the Interior Ministry could delay work for months. However, Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told Haaretz the repairs would be carried out first and legal solutions found later.
Defense Ministry officials said they could begin construction on 200 bomb shelters within a month, following Interior Ministry approval. There are an estimated 3,500 homes requiring reinforcement in Sderot, and a further4,000 in the communities around Gaza.
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Sderot residents sitting in a bomb shelter due to danger of incoming Qassam rockets last week. (AP) |
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Olmerts morons will place all Israel in shelters --they should build one for themselves better, and maybe just outright get lost together with their American bosses
Who the hell is the PMO that can demand that the donation of 6 million must be spent on private shelters.?The money is at the descretion of the sderot mayor and residents or is the PMO using the demand as a threat to stay thier responsibilities and delay building of government shelters .All the ministers still lie in talking wasting good clean air.Even the russians are laughing with the sick corrupt beurocracy which olmert and his fellow idiotic fools use to not help sderot.Kick the whole political bunch our of the knesset and start anew.
This liar has promised Sderot "immediate action" shelters for months and has done not one thing. His office then announces that bids won't even go out for another month, that government bureaucracy will delay things for months, and that when at full speed, it will take him THREE YEARS to reinforce every household at risk. The bum should stand aside and let the private sector and the world Jewish community have at this task, with NO OLMERT FLUNKIES or ministry bureaucrats involved at all. This is a disgrace. He is simply stalling because he knows he'll be ousted from office in a 3-4 weeks, after Labor finishes dumping Peretz and then votes to leave the coalition -- helping Sderot at this late date won't save Olmert's career, so he doesn't give a damn. His main energy is likely focused on lining up a comfortable exile in Manhattan.