Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai today visited the Maariv Junction, two days after the demoliyion of the Ma'ariv Bridge to make way for the Carlebach underground station, in order to inspect the progress of construction work on the Tel Aviv light rail. Businessmen at the site, who have been waiting for months to speak with the mayor about discounts on municipal property taxes because of the disruption caused by the work, greeted Huldai with shouts, saying that he had "forgotten them. His honor has remembered us now," they called out. "How nice that you have remembered us, Ron. We're falling apart here." For his part, Huldai ignored the shouts and left.
Sharon, owner of the Olive restaurant, went to photograph Huldai during his tour, and peppered him with questions. "This morning, Mr. Ron Huldai himself came to the area of my business with his entourage smiling from ear to ear, until the camera overheated," he said. "He escaped like the rats that came out with the digging. We started asking him questions. I asked why Mr. Mayor only bothered to come now. He didn't answer me, of course. He usually answers, but this time, he didn't answer."
Sharon continued, "We're falling apart here. The more I advance, the further away he gets. I asked, 'Where were you up until now?' and 'Why should we pay all our municipal property tax and fees for signs and sidewalk chairs.' We have no access to trash cans, but we pay property taxes. Why is the municipality disavowing responsibility for us? They're ignoring us; we don't count. One of his entourage told him, 'Let's get out of here,' and they ran. They didn't want a crowd of businessmen around them. Huldai, a military man and a pilot, is a coward. He has no answer for the businessmen bleeding here. They brought no solution to make things better for us. They paid no attention to us."
In addition to the protesting businessmen, about 20 residents of Nachmani St. in Tel Aviv today blocked the entrance to the street, saying that the work on the light rail had made it a key traffic artery, creating many traffic jams and disturbing their tranquility. Dozens of protestors are planning to come in the evening, block traffic in the rush hour at about 6 PM., and stage another protest. A Facebook page was opened this week entitled "Lovers of Tel Aviv," and a video clip was distributed saying, "What Hezbollah and Hamas couldn't do, the light rail project will - absolute destruction and paralysis, an economic and social disaster in the city, with thousands of businesses expected to go bankrupt." At the end of the clip, a cry is made to the mayor and the Minister of Transport: "Ron Huldai and Yisrael Katz, you are responsible for stopping the madness."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 23, 2015
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