Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz has won a battle, as the Ministry of Finance has withdrawn its proposal to freeze work on the Acre-Carmiel and Jezreel Valley railway lines. Under a deal with Minister of Finance Yair Lapid, work on the two lines will go ahead on schedule, and work on smaller road-widening projects will be postponed.
Lapid and Katz agreed to postpone by 1-2 years the following projects: widening Road 4 between the Bar Ilan and Geha intersections; widening Road 3 from Kiryat Malakhi to Ashkelon; widening Road 79 between the Somekh Interchange and Reineh in the Lower Galilee; widening Road 541 in the Shefayim area; building interchanges on Road 65 at Umm el-Fahm; stage 6 of the Ashdod Interchange; and construction of the traffic control center.
Katz launched a public battle in response to Ministry of Finance proposals to freeze railway projects, each of which will cost NIS 4 billion. He said that freezing the Acre-Carmiel and Jezreel Valley railway lines would break promises to local residents, and that it was illogical to halt projects already in advanced stages of construction.
Katz was joined by local mayors, who called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene and rein in the Ministry of Finance. The two railway lines are included in the Netivei Israel plan, promoted by Netanyahu and Katz, but opposed by Ministry of Finance officials who say that they are not worthwhile. Katz said that a Ministry of Finance official told him that it would be better for the state to write off the billions already spent on the project rather than continue them.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 24, 2013
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