Expanding the existing Haifa port might better serve the surrounding region than constructing an entirely new privatized harbor, MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) said during a tour of the area on Wednesday. As head of a new Knesset subcommittee to investigate Haifa Bay environmental and planning issues, Khenin led other Knesset members on a tour of the Haifa port area on Wednesday, making stops at the harbor itself, the Haifa Airport, Oil Refineries Ltd. and the offices of the Haifa District Municipal Association for Environmental Protection.

MK Khenin in the Port of Haifa (Photo: Al Ittihad)

While visiting the port area, the Knesset visitors met with Israel Ports Development and Asset Company CEO Shlomo Brieman, who presented them with an overview of the harbor area and an environmental impact statement related to the planned new port for the Haifa Bay. The port, he explained, currently handles about 2.2 million containers per year, and the newer port would be able to handle about 3.5 million containers annually.

Expressing that he was very impressed with the versatility, workers’ professionalism and technological capabilities of the current port, Khenin questioned the need to establish a brand new port. “From the questions we presented it became clear that there are options for further expanding and enhancing the port to meet the additional needs that the future will demand,” Khenin said. “In this situation, the question as to the need to establish an additional port, a Haifa Bay port, becomes sharper.”

Because of the great construction costs involved, the establishment of a new port could have far-reaching consequences for the Haifa metropolitan region, he explained. One of the justifications put forward for establishing the new, private port, is the ability to lower the wages of employees in comparison to those on the existing harbor, Khenin added.

“The question arises if this is indeed the point of establishing the port and if so, whether this can be justified,” he said. “The subcommittee will discuss these issues in the next two months, hearing all the parties involved, will analyze the data in order to bring the requested recommendations before the Knesset on the issue.” The expansion of Oil Refineries Ltd. and the privatization of the port could have “far-reaching environmental, social, economic and urban implications for the Haifa metropolitan region as a whole,” Khenin added.