Residents who live on Hatshebi Street in Haifa claim that the Haifa Municipality implements buffer zones without supervision and without a structured work plan in Wadi Lotem at the turn of Hatshebi Street. The trimmings are thrown into the wadi and are a combustible material, which may pose a real danger.
In a face-to-face conversation, the resident of the street said:
"A catastrophe is taking place in Wadi Lotem. This is an intersection that starts near the Gil school and continues up Hatshebi Street. The municipality carries out irresponsible stripping, without supervision and without a structured work plan. Green vegetation is uprooted and thrown into Wadi. It is simply a disgrace. All this is carried out even though it was agreed early with the municipality that the works will be carried out under strict supervision".
Haifa Municipality gave a response to Haifa:
"In the first stage, the pruning contractor performs pruning of the vegetation, and in the second stage, he will collect and crush the trimmings, in accordance with the instructions. The Municipality of Haifa will make sure that no trimmings are left in the area that are not cleared. Before the work began, flyers were sent to the residents of the neighborhood that include details of the planned works. Since the fire in Carmel The Municipality of Haifa, through the Department of Gardens and Landscape, carries out buffer zones in the various neighborhoods, especially in those bordering the groves. The works are carried out under the supervision of the municipality and with its approval and in full coordination with the Fire Authority and the Society for the Protection of Nature. To date, approximately 28 km of buffer zones have been constructed around the neighborhoods. It should be noted in this context that thanks to the buffer that was made in the Ramat Sapir neighborhood bordering Gut Levin Street, all the houses in the neighborhood were saved from the flames that broke out in the last fire in Haifa."
As I recall, the training of the Ha'itz areas is carried out on the basis of the conclusions of a professional committee that was established following the fire in Carmel, with the participation of government ministries, the Haifa Municipality Parks Department, and the Fire Authority, which conducted tours all over the city and instructed on ways to treat the grove in the spirit of the committee's conclusions.
As part of the program, all the neighborhoods located in the natural forest area were mapped and, in cooperation with the fire department, priority orders were established for the training of 10-15 meter wide buffer zones around these neighborhoods. Special emphasis is given to creating a buffer zone around educational institutions, medical centers and nursing homes.
In these areas, tree felling and "landscape lifting" is carried out as needed, i.e. removal of trimmings, thinning of branches and cleaning of the area from any plant material that may burn. All of these are carried out by the Operations Manager of the Haifa Municipality in cooperation and coordination with the Society for the Protection of Nature, the Nature Reserves Authority, the Director of Engineering and the Forestry Official. The works are carried out by contractors, using heavy tools: tractors of various types, towing tools, cranes and winches for removing trees. In the neighborhoods where the Ha'itz areas are qualified, prior to the start of the works, the public is aware of the works being carried out in the neighborhood through flyers distributed to the residents.
The training of the buffer zones in Haifa began already in 2012, and thus, Haifa became the first city in Israel to act on the issue and its activity is an example for other authorities to follow. The qualified buffer zones this year join the buffer zones that have already been completed by the municipality along a length of about 33 kilometers at a total cost of about NIS 6 million.
If the work is carried out according to the plan and 100% in order, where will the inspector get the envelope according to the Japanese responses, they are simply naive
It is not accurate that the works are carried out in a controlled and orderly manner. Leaving dirt and tree remains, the works take a long time - not exactly neat and organized. Unfortunately, this is what the municipality looks like.
I live on Shoham Ze'ev street in the last part which is a dead end. As part of the lessons learned from the last fire in Carmel, buffer zones were breached in the grove below the houses on the street (which is between the street and Bekurim Street) and a passageway for a fire truck was even breached. The problem is that the contractor left quite a few remnants of trees in the area that can, during a fire, catch fire and set fire to the trees of the grove. The neighbors contacted the municipality several times about the issue, but nothing was done.