Prime Minister's Office director-General Ra'anan Dinur, today, toured Sderot and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip in order to consider the feasibility of expediting the reinforcement of area residents, as per the instructions of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Outgoing Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal, Sderot Mayor-elect David Buskila, Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council Chairman Alon Shuster, Eshkol Regional Council Chairman Haim Yellin, Sdot Hanegev Regional Council Chairman Meir Yifrach, Ashkelon Coast Regional Council Chairman Yair Farjon, Housing and construction Ministry Director-General Dr. Haim Fialkopf and Sapir College Director-General Dr. Nechemia Paz, as well as IDF Home Front Command and education Ministry representatives also took part in the tour.
On 17.11.08, Prime Minister Olmert announced that should the Finance Ministry plan for expediting investment in infrastructure proceed, he would see fit to also expedite the reinforcement of homes for the residents of Sderot and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip. To this end, PMO Dir.-Gen. Dinur toured the area today both in order to monitor the progress of the home reinforcement project and to check on the aforesaid possibility.
PMO Dir.-Gen. Dinur and his fellow participants inspected a reinforced home at Kibbutz Erez, a reinforced school in Sderot, a reinforced day care center and kindergarten in Sderot, reinforced classrooms at Sapir College and a refurbished shelter at Kibbutz Sa'ad.
PMO Dir.-Gen. Dinur said: "I am pleased to be here and I have enjoyed this visit, mainly due to the fact that I have seen what is being done in the overall sphere of structural reinforcement: Homes, educational institutions, bus stops, public institutions, kindergartens, etc. I came here out of a desire to gain a firsthand impression and to positively consider the carrying out of the Prime Minister's directive on accelerating the work of structural reinforcement in Sderot and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, and to check how it is possible to further assist Sderot and the other communities in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip ahead of the conclusion of the 31st Government's term in office. I have instructed the Prime Minister's Office Division for Coordination, Follow-Up and Control to coordinate with the local authorities in locating projects that could be considered in the plan for accelerating growth."
Since 2003, the Government has invested NIS 1.866 billion in structural reinforcement, civilian assistance and other benefits for the residents of Sderot and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip: NIS 700 million for the reinforcement of educational institutions, NIS 327 for the reinforcement of residential units, NIS 152 million for the reinforcement of public institutions, NIS 85 million for structural reinforcement in Ashkelon, NIS 570 million in civil assistance for residents of Sderot and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip and NIS 32.5 million in assistance to residents of Ashkelon.
The Government is currently undertaking the reinforcement of 2,700 residential units in Sderot and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, the reinforcement of eight schools, the construction of 13 new reinforced schools, the reinforcement and construction of 170 kindergartens, the reinforcement of structures at Sapir College, the stationing of 430 reinforced bus stops and the reinforcement of public institutions.