Jerusalem City Hall will, on Wednesday, launch an unprecedented operation to clean up the city. Mayor Nir Barkat calls the operation a “cleaning revolution, the likes of which have never been seen in the capital”. The operation is partnered with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.

As part of the revolution, the cleaning system in the eastern capital neighborhoods will be done by contractors in a manner that will significantly upgrade the frequency and quality of cleanliness in the neighborhoods of Beit Haninah, Shuafat, Issawiya, Ras al Amud, A-Tur, Silwan, Abu Tur, Jabil Mukhaber, and Um Tuba.

As part of the plan, hundreds of sanitation workers and street cleaners will be added to the neighborhoods in the eastern (Arab) areas of the city, the frequency of waste collection days will be increased, and the level of service in the neighborhoods and business and commercial centers will be increased, funded to the tune of tens of millions of shekels. In addition, the number of mechanical street cleaning vehicles will be increased, as well as trucks to collect pruning residue, street washing vehicles and tractors for garbage disposal at an investment of NIS 80 million. In addition, 700 new garbage containers will be added during 2019, and an additional 200 new underground trash receptacles will be placed in business centers in Shuafat and the eastern capital.

At the same time, about 100 municipal cleaners will be added to the cleaning system and street cleaning fleet in the western neighborhoods of the city, bringing an unprecedented upgrade in the quality and frequency of cleaning.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that “this is the largest cleaning revolution ever in all parts of Jerusalem, and after years of intensive work with the workers’ unions, the Histadrut National Labor Federation and the Ministries of Environmental Protection, Jerusalem Affairs and Finance to build the reform, we are pressing the button and bringing the revolution to fruition. Together with this revolution, there is the construction of parks, new playgrounds, and the renewal of the paving of the sidewalks and roads that have deteriorated in recent years, Jerusalem at the end of this decade will look more beautiful than ever.

“During the Barkat period, the city’s cleaning budget doubled from NIS 326 million in 2008 to NIS 702 million in 2018 and the number of sanitation workers in the city grew by 25% from 932 workers in 2008 to 1,258 in 2018.

“The cleaning revolution will be implemented this week thanks to a historic agreement reached with the workers’ organizations in the municipality, the sanitation workers and the Jerusalem District in the Histadrut, which, thanks to close cooperation with the city administration and in view of the welfare of the city’s residents, made the plan possible.

“The plan is part of a cleanup reform initiated by Mayor Nir Barkat and backed by a government decision in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Jerusalem and the Ministry of Finance, with the aim of promoting and improving the cleanliness system in Jerusalem and strengthening municipal sovereignty and service in eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)