Transportation Minister (Likud) Yisrael Katz announced on Wednesday, 7 Tammuz, the ministry will be allocating NIS 250 million towards the expansion of the Jerusalem light rail, the Blue Line, which will travel to the German Colony via Emek Refaim Street. He added that the government never promised to pay merchants compensatory damages.

In reply to the question posed by MK (Machane Tzioni) Nachman Shai in the Knesset plenum on Monday night, a question regarding the Ministry of Transport on the light rail line in Emek Refaim, Minister Katz announced that the ministry supports the decision of the District Planning Committee and explained: Part of my considerations was the fact that there are hardly any parks in Jerusalem. The track park is a rare product, used by many visitors.

The committee announced a budget of NIS 250 million, with the approval of the Ministry of Finance, to be transferred to the project budget. “However,” explained the minister, “we will offer the money as an incentive to contractors who will finish the work in two or four years, will work day and night, and we will also allow business owners to rent stalls at the nearby station compound in order to facilitate accessibility and to enable proper business activity as much as possible during the implementation period.”

MK Shai called on the ministry to maintain a finger on the pulse of the project in order to minimize the damage to the businesses on Emek Refaim Street that will be impacted by the construction.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)