Zalul Environmental Association to Haifa Mayor Yonah Yahav: Enough manipulation of Haifa and Krayot residents! Your agreement to build a bypass pipe for the Kishon is making you a partner in the plan to pollute Haifa Bay with the effluent of the factories.

Over a year ago, in an initiative by the Minister of the Environment, a public discussion was started on the subject of establishing a pipe to the sea for the effluenct of the Kishon factories by the representatives of the Haifa municipality. The conclusions and results of the discussion distinctly show that the proposed plan would hide the severe dangers to the sea environment in Haifa Bay. This program goes against previously determined directives to reduce the pollution of effluent from the factories of the Kishon and ignores advanced technology alternatives around the world, alternatives which will both rescue the Kishon River and bring enforced internationally recognized environmental standards to the factories along the Kishon River.

In Abramovich’s letter, he states that the recent public relations campaign, that was created to show the Kishon River as precious and valuable, was deceptive and based on heavy economic interests and clearly disregarded public opinion.

In addition, writes Abramovich in his letter, for a long time the Mayor of Haifa has not worked in any way to stop this dangerous program, to the contrary – he held a series of meetings with members of the Ministry of the Environment and the Kishon River Authority that encouraged them to undertake the program.

Zalul asserted that only a few weeks before they had tried multiple times to present their side in a meeting with Yonah Yahav to demonstrate the position of the organization as well as the public’s resistance. In reaction, Mayor Yahav chose to ignore the experience of those at the meeting. In addition, Zalul added, Mayor Yahav’s support to the pipe-to-sea program is essentially an open secret and because he knows his stance is adverse to the public, he attempts to conceal his position and that of the Haifa municipality.

Said Abramovich, “The Mayor of Haifa compares the calls of Zalul as that of a troublesome fly that disturbs him in his mission to build a pipe to the sea. Zalul’s intention, along with the residents of Haifa, is to campaign against this crazy notion to change the Mediterranean Sea and the coastal Haifa Bay to a gutter of effluent from the factories of the Kishon. We are convinced that Mayor Yahav will comprehend that he must follow the wishes of the citizens of his city and join in this public struggle.”