Progress at Naalin dump as residents demand action

After months of health and environmental damage affecting hundreds of thousands of residents in the Shoham, Modiin, and Rosh HaAyin areas, the deputy head of Shoham council, Nurit Shachter, is reporting significant progress in tackling the illegal waste dump in Naalin, identified as the main source of pollution in the region.

Work on the ground has taken a turn following direct involvement by government officials and residents, with operations to control the internal burning at the site intensified in recent weeks.

"Plans were not implemented and the site kept burning"

Following a joint meeting between the head of Shoham council and the Chevel Modiin regional council, Shachter detailed the chain of events that led to the start of engineering work at the site.

"These are long months in which we have all been choking, and in recent weeks we are finally seeing real, thorough and determined work at the Naalin dump, the major polluter in the area," Shachter said. "I approached Minister Bezalel Smotrich in my capacity as deputy head of Shoham council and updated him that despite existing plans, the fires continue, the pollution is harming residents, and treatment from the root is essential."

Shachter noted that following the approach, continuous treatment began together with representatives of the Settlement Division and civil protest activists. "We went to the depth of the problem in Naalin: the work plan was not implemented for long months and not even one piece of equipment worked at the site, while the site continued to burn in deep internal combustion beneath the ground. From there things moved to action: heavy equipment operating in parallel, exposure of fire sources and extinguishing, placement of concrete blocks, leveling of slopes and removal of waste to regulated landfill."

Five-step plan for the incoming government

Alongside the progress in the work, Shachter emphasizes that the hazard has not yet passed completely and that a more aggressive national policy is required from the incoming government, including legislative amendments and security enforcement in Judea and Samaria.

"It is important to say honestly: the situation is still far from good and the problem is difficult. To reach a complete solution, the new government must act on five urgent steps: complete extinguishing of internal fire sources and engineering rehabilitation of the sites, blocking and enforcement from Israeli territory against pirate trucks and contractors, determined security enforcement including confiscation of trucks and heavy equipment of arsonists, a plan and implementation of waste burial throughout Judea and Samaria, and amendment of the Clean Air Law and definition of responsibility for updating residents in real time."

"When we combine forces we can move mountains"

Shachter asked to disconnect the treatment of the hazard from factional considerations and to praise the public representatives and activists in the field who harnessed themselves to the campaign, including Minister Bezalel Smotrich, MK Tzvi Succot, Settlement Division officials, the Environmental Protection Ministry's KAMAT unit, and the residents' organizations 'Nechanaknu' and 'Clean Air'.

"I don't go into political opinions when it comes to the health of our families, actions come before everything," the deputy council head concluded. "When we combine forces between a determined public and executive public representatives, we can move mountains and protect the health of all of us."