GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Funded by the Qatar Charity association, the Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza Strip started on Sept. 20 a project aimed at building an aquatic city in the fishing port of Gaza City in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which allocated a plot of land for the construction of the project. The project should be ready by mid-2017.

The project is the first of its kind and will serve as a recreational center and park. It will also serve as a museum showcasing all kinds of fish. This park will enable experts and researchers to carry out new research on fisheries and the mechanisms adopted by fishermen. It will also serve as a place to develop scientific research in the field of fisheries.

The port of Gaza, which was renovated in 2015, is among the most important tourist spots in the Gaza Strip and is frequented by a lot of citizens during the holidays and on special occasions. The Gaza Seaport Authority developed it and established many service-based projects there, such as amusement parks, restaurants, cafeterias and recreational areas. It also allocated parking areas for cars and tour buses and provided new boats that visitors and tourists can take for a ride into the sea. The new aquatic city project is one of the new vital projects aimed at developing the port.

Mohamed Sorour, the director of the General Directorate of Roads and Projects in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, told Al-Monitor that the role of his ministry was limited to providing the plot of land for the project. He said, “I allotted a 2.5-acre plot of land for the project, and the plot is located in the port of Gaza and has been dedicated for the establishment of the aquatic city, which was proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture given the Gaza Strip’s need for such projects.”