Britannia Radio

PM Netanyahu: Oversight Mechanisms in Reform to Simplify Planning and Building to be  Re-examined (Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)21.4.10 In light of the possible repercussions of cases currently under investigation by the Israel Police, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – in consultation with Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein – has asked Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to carry out an additional check of the oversight mechanisms included in the draft planning and building law (the reform designed to simplify and shorten planning and building procedures).  This is in order to boost the upholding of proper administrative procedures and integrity.  The check will be carried out soon in the framework of the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs, which is discussing the draft law. It should be emphasized that the draft law has been designed to lift the bureaucratic impediments that have turned planning and building process in Israel into one of the most complicated in the world.  In its current format, the draft law contains a long series of checks and balances designed to fight corruption by increasing transparency and oversight of the planning process. The reform is designed to improve, increase the efficiency of, and shorten planning and construction procedures and rescue citizens and investors from the bureaucratic maze.  This reform, along with others being advanced by the Government, is expected to lead to both an increase in the supply of residential units on the market and more moderate prices.  Thousands of residential units are currently stuck 'in the pipeline'.  Their release will not only encourage increased supply but will also prevent unacceptable practices. Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning (Wednesday), 21.4.10, hailed the reform and said – inter alia – that, "We have shortened the process and rendered it both more transparent and more open to public scrutiny. However, I am still disturbed by the possibility that there might remain – at the local planning committees – pockets of practices that do not meet the criterion of integrity.  Therefore, I have asked Justice Minister Neeman to – in consultation with Attorney General Weinstein – examine the need to improve the new reform by adding tools that will further boost transparency, enforcement and the war on corruption." -------------------------------------------- IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis Website: www.imra.org.il