In response to the efforts of the Joint List and the Committee of Heads of Arab Local Authorities and civil society institutions, the government announced on Sunday, October 25, the extension of the economic development plan (Plan 922) for another year. Injaz – the professional development force engine of the Arab local authorities – believes that the extension of the plan is an important step to use the budgets owed to Arab local authorities under Plan 922 and benefit from it, and to move towards another more comprehensive five-year plan. The economic development plan (Plan 922) was approved in 2015, and its implementation began in 2016, but many obstacles prevented the exhaustion of all the budgets allocated by the plan, including problems stemming from the long years of discrimination towards Arab towns, such as the shortage of land and the lack of expansion of areas of influence, which hindered the construction of public institutions and industrial areas. Injaz calls on the various ministries to overcome the obstacles that prevent the full use of budgets and to modify the plan and projects based on the needs of the Arab society, and also calls for the development of a new five-year plan starting in 2022, which includes several aspects not covered by Plan 922, such as the development of environmental projects and their institutionalization within the Arab authorities, in addition to tourism projects and programs and infrastructure development. Injaz also points to the importance of developing a mechanism for utilizing resources and establishing an economic development department in local authorities, encouraging initiatives, developing small interests and developing industrial areas, especially since Plan 922 did not include a development trajectory for commercial interests. Injaz Center calls for intensifying joint work between Arab local authorities, the Joint List and civil society institutions, and continuing efforts to build a new five-year plan that meets the needs of Arab society and works to bridge the existing gaps between Arab and Jewish towns as a result of systematic discrimination policies.
