The Ministry of Infrastructure has completed the transfer of annual funds to Arab local councils to the tune of NIS 150 million (USD 22.6 million) allocated for the construction of a modern infrastructure for the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage.
The funds will be used to construct collection and pumping stations and to set up sewage infrastructures in towns where such services never existed, like Um el-Fahem, Taibeh, Shfaram, Tamra, and Nazareth.
Half of the sum is a government grant, while the other half is a loan for 20 years.
In the 90s the government issued loans to Arab and Druze local authorities to deal with severe deficiencies in collecting, pumping and treating sewage.
The government changed its development policies towards Arab local authorities in 2000 when it was decided to assist the construction of sewage infrastructure in the form of awarding government grants covering half of the costs.
In January 2004 the Finance Ministry decided to slash the grants allocated for developing sewage infrastructures by 25 percent, stymieing the completion of sewage networks in many Arab and Druze villages. The Ministry of Infrastructure said the lack of appropriate funds for the projects amounted to considerable pollution and risk to public health.
The Ministry has recently succeeded to convince the government to raise the quota of grants to cover the sewage budget to 50 percent.
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