"I haven’t seen a real estate plan, I only saw the prime minister speaking about things. There is no plan; this is mere spin that says, 'We will do', but we don’t. We constantly hear promises - they're exploiting the shortage. If the prime minister were to collect the ministers and ask to see all the stuck plans, things would move, but there is no real plan," Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai told "Voice of Israel Radio" today in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu' real estate plan presented earlier this week.
Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Atias said in response that there was no legislation on the issue, but that when the bill reaches the cabinet on Sunday, things would move. "After the bill is approved, within 2-3 months, 20,000 housing units will be released for construction as part of our program to increase the supply of land."
Atias added, "Prime Minister's Office director general Eyal Gabai heads a committee to remove barriers, which is doing great work, and releasing a lot of land for us. Since July 2010, we've been acting to allocate 20% of all plans in Israel to small apartments in all cities."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 9, 2011
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