(haipo) – A significant step in water sector reform: The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the bill to close water corporations in local authorities that meet criteria to be determined. The bill, initiated by Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen, allows authorities to manage the water and sewage sector independently, while maintaining a closed financial system, a move designed to reduce waste, streamline management, and reduce water rates for the public.
Independent management for efficient authorities
According to the bill, local authorities that are found to be efficient and meet professional criteria to be determined will be able to operate without the obligation to form a corporation. This means the elimination of unnecessary water corporations, along with a commitment to managing a closed financial economy, so that all water revenues will be used exclusively for managing the water economy and investing in infrastructure.
“There is no room for dozens of inflated corporations”
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Eli Cohen, He welcomed the approval of the proposal: “The goal of the law we are promoting is to eliminate water corporations in efficient authorities. There is no place in the economy for dozens of bloated corporations with hundreds of unnecessary jobs. This is a classic case of the golem rising against its creator and creating a waste of hundreds of millions of shekels a year. Water is a basic consumer product, and we must ensure that it is managed with maximum efficiency in order to reduce the rate for the public.”
According to him, the authorities that choose to abolish the corporations will commit to closed financial management, which will ensure the designated use of revenues for the maintenance, operation, and investment in water and sewage infrastructure.
An end to waste and double dealing
The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure notes that the move is expected to put an end to inflated expenses and waste of money that currently exist in some water corporations. Currently, many corporations operate with management systems that are duplicated by those of local authorities, and staff unnecessary positions, a situation that leads to high operating costs and higher water rates for the public.
The bill is expected to go to first reading in the Knesset.
After the proposal is approved by the ministerial committee, it will be forwarded for legal drafting, and is then expected to be read for the first time in the Knesset plenum in about a month. The government estimates that this is a significant step towards improving water management, increasing efficiency, and strengthening service to citizens.
Did the article interest you?
Dreams in Aspiration
In Nahariya, they are going the opposite way, now establishing a new corporation with Meilia.
Instead of waiting and seeing what is better, do some additional in-depth thinking and analyze the feasibility.
Burying their heads in the sand. And we will pay for another bloated and wasted mechanism.
It's time
They didn't reinvent the wheel, they're just going back to what it was before Carmel Water. I wonder if the level of service will change for the better.