Housing Minister Zeev Sharef said last night that Israel would embark on a crash program to construct housing units in East Jerusalem, the sector formally occupied by Jordan. He said on a radio interview that his Ministry would spend $42 million, 15 percent of its total budget. He said the construction of 2,300 housing units would commence immediately and that rate of construction would be maintained for the next two years, if possible, without dislocating the overstrained building labor market. Sharef said that pre-fabrication would be extensive. Entire kitchen and toilet units will be produced in factories and assembled on the building sites. Asked about esthetics, a sore point among critics of the project, Sharef replied that he was no expert. But he said his Ministry was searching for the best possible architects and was willing to amend its plans in accordance with the recommendations of competent planners. A new residential quarter in the Ramat Gan suburb of Tel Aviv, will be built by the Litur Co., a firm controlled by the Ottawa investor Isaac Levin, it was announced today. It will be called Kiryat Krinitzi in honor of the late Mayor of Ramat Gan, Abraham Krinitzi. The quarter will contain 350 housing units. Ground-breaking ceremonies were held today.
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