Water getting expensive
Photo: CD Bank
Minister Herzog: Postpone water price hike
Welfare minister warns of grim implications of price hike for poor families
The government should postpone the planned price hike of water in order to avoid greater poverty in Israel, Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog says.
The minister already approached Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested an urgent discussion on the subject in the upcoming government session.
"Water is an essential, basic, and daily good," Herzog said. "I believe that the lower classes would not be able to handle the raising of water prices as planned. National Insurance Institute figures reinforce the estimate that this decision will deepen poverty and create major economic distress among many families and the elderly."
As reported by Ynet earlier, a National Insurance Institute study predicted that about 1,400 additional families will be pushed below the poverty line as direct result of the water price hike.
Herzog is arguing that the decision on raising the prices was taken without consulting with the relevant welfare agencies and understanding the move's full implications. The minister therefore wants to see the hike postponed from Jan. 1 to April 15, 2010 and has also suggested a different mechanism for calculating the cost, in a way that would be more favorable for low-income earners.
"My proposal is more just and appropriate in social terms, as it sets a fair per capita water price," Herzog said.
