Newspaper Page Text
(9U- "• ittsouo
"Ca&UfiJibtp fa* tUe O^ice"
Telephone 1650 119 Broad Street
THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA
Bank of Thomas County
A Friendly Bank ... A Friendly Community
THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA
iYIKMBKR OF
FEDERAL, DEPOSIT INSURANCE COKI’OltATION
HThomasuilIc
IDimcs Enterprise
Serving Southwest Georgia
AFTERNOONS EXCEPT SUNDAY
Commercial Hank
.1. TRUMAN HOLLAND, Chairman of the Board
THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA
Bank of Dependable Service
Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
W. Fcinberts X Soil. Inc.
oath Cjcoriiia J furniture tore
THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA
R. 11. Neel, Sr.. President Mrs. Alice 1’. Joseph. Sec.-Treas.
Thomas County
Federal Savings & Loan Association
109 N. Broad St.
PHONE 3109
THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA
Homes for Maabarot
NEW PLAN FOR HOUSING
NEWCOMERS TO ISRAEL
By NlRA LASKY
JERUSALEM —
Barring emergencies, must of the
l-f.Ulili new immigrant families still
living in temporary canvas huts
should he properly housed by the
end of 195(1, according to the build
ing program of the Israel Ministry
of Labor. True, time and time
attain promises have been made*
that the slummy maabarot would
disappear - by the end of 1954,
then by the summer of 1955. But
to some extent the newcomers
themselves arc to blame for the
delay.
For a large part of the people
marking lime in these shacks re
fuse to move to farming and devel
opment areas, where housing is
available. They want to live in
the cities, or as close to the cities
as possible, insisting that urban
areas offer greater employment
possibilities and better services.
They are wrong on the former
score, maybe right on the latter,
since schooling, medical services
and public utilities are more readi
ly available in the central parts of
the country. However, with con
ditions continuously improving in
thi' outlying areas, it will not be
lung before sufficient teachers and
physicians are drawn out there;
and already, some of the frontier
\ illages have electricity.
With the exception of the Jeru
salem area, those immigrants seek
ing government sponsored housing
in urban areas will now have tc
pay for it like everybody else. La
bor Minister Golda Mverson an
nounced m the Knesset recently
that from now on, people will be
housed for nothing or very little
only in the far north and the Ne
gev where working hands are bad
ly needed. This may indeed make
many change their minds and help
end the further cluttering up of al
ready overcrowded Tel Aviv, Ra-
mat Gan. Haifa and other urban
centers.
Not only maabarot dwellers used
to trickle into the cities these past
years, but also new farmers who
couldn’t make a go of farming or'
whose yearning for urban com
forts got the better of them. To
counter this trend, farm homes
are now being improved and,
where families have grown in num
bers, enlarged.
With pride the people of Kfar
Azaria, just east of Ramale, recent
ly showed visitors over their new
three-roomed homes which include
indoor plumbing and kitchens with
sinks and faucets. "Let’s face : t,’’
said one of them who came from
Turkey five years ago, "better
homes have decided many of us to
hang on. It’s tough, particularly
in winter, to have to cross a muddy
yard to get to the sanitary facilities,
and to step out into the cold each
time you need water."
These improvements cost many
millions of pounds, borne for the
time being jointly by the Jewish
Agency and the Labor Ministry.
Later on, when the settlers have to
repay the initial outlay, they will
also have to pay for these addi
tions. But for most of them that
will be some years hence; and loan
repayments will be spread over 33
years, so that won’t hurt so badly.
Moreover, the old type of farm
house is out for good. From now
on, bigger and better cottages are
to be built. Among those pressing
for such improvements is Harold
Robinson, the housing expert of
the U. S. Operations Mission here
who made quite a name for him
self in New England where, as
post-war director of the Massa
chusetts State Housing Board he
administered a state aid and cred
it program involving $400,000,000
for the construction and operation
of 15 rental housing projects.
Private Dining Rooms
Tourists A Trays Welcome
Dodson's Grill
& Restaurant
"Your Best Choice
For Better Food"
Steaks — Chicken
Sea Foods
Regular Dinners
AAA
Phone 680
THOMASVILLE. GA.
(14)
The Southern Israelite