Sources inform ''Globes'' that, within two weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a meeting to discuss the future of the Tel Aviv light rail project. Calls have been increasing in the government in recent days to reconsider the nationalization of the project, which would mean having Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd. (NTA) build it.
Senior officials from the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Transport have been summoned to the meeting.
The cabinet was supposed to approve the nationalization of the light rail project two days ago, handing responsibility for it to the Ministry of Transport and implementation by NTA. However, the meeting was postponed at the last minute at the request of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. The official inauguration ceremony of the project, scheduled to immediately follow the cabinet meeting, was also cancelled.
In explaining the request to postpone the cabinet discussion on the Tel Aviv light rail project, Weinstein said that he wanted to read the material about the issue. His involvement comes alongside a similar request by Tel Aviv light rail franchisee Metro Transport Solutions (MTS), whose franchise the Ministry of Finance cancelled in August. MTS is in arbitration with the state and is seeking an injunction until a ruling by an arbitrator. A lawyer representing MTS said that it is not reasonable for the government to decide on nationalizing the project before the arbitrator's ruling on the injunction.
Beyond the legal issues, there are claims that NTA, a government company, is incapable of building the Tel Aviv light rail's Red Line, a huge and complex project costing at least NIS 11 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 27, 2010
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