KKL-JNF and the Environmental Protection Ministry Launch Nationwide Green Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program
Hamevaser
October 23, 2017
Haim Margaliot
Officials of the Environmental Protection Ministry and KKL-JNF attended a special event in Ofakim to launch the nationwide Green Rehabilitation Program for neglected neighborhoods. In attendance were Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin; Deputy Minister MK Yaron Mazuz; KKL-JNF World Chairman Danny Atar; Environmental Protection Ministry Director-General Yisrael Dancziger; Mayor of Ofakim Itzik Danino, and mayors of other localities.
As part of the Green Rehabilitation Program, NIS 111 million are being invested in development and in reducing environmental pollution in neighborhoods and housing projects in sixteen local authorities that are ranked between 1 and 5 on the socioeconomic scale. The sixteen local authorities participating in the project will rehabilitate the courtyards of approximately 530 buildings, improving the day-to-day lives of approximately 16,000 residents.
The program is part of the green revolution to reduce air pollution, which is being spearheaded by the Environmental Protection Ministry and KKL-JNF at a total investment of NIS 390 million. As part of the program, thousands of housing units on the periphery are being made healthier and more energy-efficient; dozens of local authorities have reduced their electricity consumption by dozens of percentage points; 62 electricity-powered buses will be running throughout the country by year’s end; 300 particle filters will be installed on garbage trucks; hundreds of electric cars will be added to car-sharing companies, and 1,500 hybrid taxis will begin plying the roads.
As part of the Green Rehabilitation Program, each local authority chose a sequence of buildings in housing projects, with the public grounds adjacent to them, that they plan to rehabilitate. Photovoltaic (PV) cells will be installed on the roofs of public buildings throughout the cities to produce solar energy, and the proceeds from them will be invested in ongoing maintenance and in a community social initiative for approximately a decade.
Energy-efficient lighting, awnings for shade, and automatic irrigation systems will also be installed. The smart, efficient systems will improve the appearance of each housing project and neighborhood, save on building maintenance costs, and create a continuum of well-maintained public and privately-owned areas that are expected to remain so for a long time to come.