This is what the association of users of bulk marine transport for grain and fodder transport claims
The Association of Users of Bulk Marine Transportation for the Transportation of Grains and Fodder sent a letter to the Prime Minister and several ministers claiming that reducing the hours the trucks enter Dagon will harm their ability to operate in the food industry and meet the demand for wheat kernels for flour producers.
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The Ego requested a freeze on the application of the restrictions on the movement of trucks. This restriction is under the guidance of the Minister of Environmental Protection and in coordination with the Haifa Municipality. The restriction also concerns, among other things, the movement of the trucks carrying the grains, in the lower city of Haifa (including on Independence Street - from the Dagon silos), the union says.
A reference to the prime minister and ministers was sent yesterday by the grain and fodder transportation union and signed by the union's legal advisor, Attorney Dekel Brockman.
A preliminary examination of the consequences is required
The letter states: "The application of truck movement restrictions - without a preliminary, comprehensive, serious and in-depth examination of their consequences on the grain sector in the national economy, and without finding alternative solutions before applying them - may lead the import of grains in Israel to an unprecedented crisis that will reach the doorstep of all households and farms living in Israel, and can even manifest itself in an acute shortage of food and rising prices."
The background to the letter is the entry into force (Wednesday) of the Haifa Municipality regulations to limit the movement of trucks in the lower city of Haifa (near the country's food artery: Dagon silos), for 6 hours a day (06:30-09:30 and at: 15:00- 18:00).
Restrictions that apply from now on
According to Eli Sivan, the chairman of the union: "We were unexpectedly and urgently called to a meeting a week ago (28.12) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Haifa and the North, where it was brought to our attention for the first time that: following the government's decision to reduce pollutant emissions in Haifa, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Haifa Municipality plan to apply restrictions in the lower city On the movement of heavy trucks (over 12 tons), including the restriction of their movement on Independence Street in Wacha from the Dagon silos. In the last few days, we were amazed to discover that it is not just a preliminary presentation of the draft restrictions in preparation for a thorough examination of their consequences on the national economy, as was predicted to be, but restrictions that will begin immediately!!!
60 percent of the grains in the Israeli economy go through the Gedon
In the letter to the Prime Minister and the ministers, it is stated that: "Through the Dagon silos, located on Ha-Atsamat St. in Haifa (and operating 24 hours a day, 6 days a week), approximately 3.25 million tons of imported grains are processed, which constitute approximately 60% of the grains consumed by the national economy in Israel (the human and the animal).
Trucks of 40 tons of wheat
The transportation of the grains (wheat, barley, soybeans, corn, etc.) is mostly carried out by trucks that usually carry: 40 tons of grains, each. The entry of empty trucks into the waiting and loading areas at Beit Dagon and the exit of loaded trucks from the complex is only possible in one direction, from the southeast to the northwest. Because of this, the new restrictions will disable the possibility of transporting the kernels from the Dagon silos for 1/4 of the time of the day.
The implications will be many, including: immediate blockage of the unloading system in the silos and significant costs immediately derived from this, such as: unnecessary delay fees that will be charged by the foreign ship owners and the accumulation of fines for the late release of the grains from the silos); and serious damage to the industries that use the kernels as a result of the lack of regular supply of required raw material precisely during the peak hours of the production outputs
According to Sivan: "It is not only about bread, wheat and barley, but also food for livestock, and in fact the raw material for the entire food industry in Israel. Dagon silos are the lifeblood of food in the country. We are already working at 100% de facto output in the silos. Stopping traffic Trucks, as the municipality is proposing, will block this lifeline. We will not accept it, certainly in light of the fact that we have no other option. Ashdod Port is mismanaged. The infrastructure there is inadequate and unsuitable for receiving the grain, the rates for docking and unloading at Ashdod Port are expensive, and so are the priorities The defect in the port, which allows the reception of container ships with vehicles, textiles and household goods - long before the food goods - is infuriating and frustrating and of course increases the prices of the food goods for the importers. For a long time we have been appealing to the ministers of transport, finance, port authorities, the Ports and Shipping Authority, to all parties Involved in a request to discuss the growing demand of the State of Israel in the field of food imports, and against the failure to develop suitable infrastructure for the food consumption of the population, which is increasing year by year, However, for a long time there has not been any serious discussion on the subject in Israel and it is not included in the five-year plans of the ports, let alone Recommendations were made to improve the existing infrastructures and adapt them to the 2,000s. We still rely on the grain silos in Haifa, which were established in 1954! Since then, the world has leapt forward, but the infrastructures for importing grains and food goods into Israel have not been addressed for many years!
We ask the responsible parties to wake up before they find out in the coming months that the prices of food in Israel (bread and its products, milk and its products, eggs, poultry, oils and more) - are getting more expensive!
Attorney Brockman demands in the letter "an immediate freeze on the implementation of grain truck movement restrictions in the lower city of Haifa until the preliminary tests are completed, the national priorities are determined, and alternative solutions are formulated and implemented."
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