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| The Crazy Water Park has 106 employees, not counting about 80 vendors supplying services and goods such as food.<ref name=Habib/> Park employees earn the equivalent of between ]250 and $300 a month, considered a good wage in Gaza, where over 80% of the populaiton receives welfare payments from the ] and other international aid agencies.<ref name=Habib/> | The Crazy Water Park has 106 employees, not counting about 80 vendors supplying services and goods such as food.<ref name=Habib/> Park employees earn the equivalent of between ]250 and $300 a month, considered a good wage in Gaza, where over 80% of the populaiton receives welfare payments from the ] and other international aid agencies.<ref name=Habib/> | ||
| According to the ] newspaper, the Crazy Water Park is one of a number of seaside tourist resorts constructed in a $20 million building binge.<ref name=Toameh>" "Palestinians in Gaza invest $20m. in new resorts", Khaled Abu Toameh, ''Jerusalem Post''.</ref> According to '']'', some sources regard the Crazy Water Park as one of a group of ] operating since the late 2000s.<ref name=Mcintyre/> | According to the ] newspaper, the Crazy Water Park is one of a number of seaside tourist resorts constructed in a $20 million building binge.<ref name=Toameh>" "Palestinians in Gaza invest $20m. in new resorts", Khaled Abu Toameh, ''Jerusalem Post''.</ref> According to '']'', some sources regard the Crazy Water Park as one of a group of ] operating since the late 2000s.<ref name=Mcintyre/> According to the ], the resort was built by a "Hamas-linked charity,"<ref name=Reuters1> August 2, 2010, Reuters, New York Times.</ref> | ||
| A recent lifting of the government ban on ] has made it legal for women to smoke the popular ]s at the Crazy Water Park's cafe.<ref name=Koutsoukis> Jason Koutsoukis, July 29, 2010, The Sunday Morning Herald.</ref> | A recent lifting of the government ban on ] has made it legal for women to smoke the popular ]s at the Crazy Water Park's cafe.<ref name=Koutsoukis> Jason Koutsoukis, July 29, 2010, The Sunday Morning Herald.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 17:41, 2 August 2010
The Crazy Water Park or Crazy Water Aqua Fun Park is a water park in Gaza that opened in May 2010. One Australian newspaper calls it "the new sensation" among Gaza's "privileged."
According to The Independent newspaper, Mohammed Al-Araj, the economics minister in the first government formed after Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election is believed to be one of the directors. Two thousand families visited the Crazy Water Park during the first four days that it was open.
The landscaped water park features 3 swimming pools, a canal 100 meters long, three water slides, ponds with pedal boats, a restaurant, a cafe, and a quiet area shaded by a tent where adults can sit on carpets and listen to music. The atmosphere is secular, with popular secular tunes playing over the loudspeakers and women smooking waterpipes. The park was built with materials assembled from war-torn buildings as well as materials brought through the Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels. Construction was completed in six months. Admission is 10 shekels, the equivalent of about $2.60 as of mid-2010, but using the water slide costs another 5 shekels, and going into the pool costs an extra 20 shekels.
The park cost $2 million to build. According to Ayman Barawi, the Crazy Water Park's financial manager, "This park is a form of escape. People need a chance to escape from the stress. We brought 'air' to the people."
The Crazy Water Park has 106 employees, not counting about 80 vendors supplying services and goods such as food. Park employees earn the equivalent of between $250 and $300 a month, considered a good wage in Gaza, where over 80% of the populaiton receives welfare payments from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and other international aid agencies.
According to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, the Crazy Water Park is one of a number of seaside tourist resorts constructed in a $20 million building binge. According to The Independent, some sources regard the Crazy Water Park as one of a group of Hamas business ventures operating since the late 2000s. According to the Reuters, the resort was built by a "Hamas-linked charity,"
A recent lifting of the government ban on women smoking in public has made it legal for women to smoke the popular nargilas at the Crazy Water Park's cafe.
Criticism
Gaza residents have criticized the government for not backing investment in housing instead of water parks. One man, interviewed while relaxing at the Water Park, told a reporter that "If the money put into Crazy Water had been used to construct 10 buildings, 100 families could have been housed by now."
External links
- Photo of the Crazy Water Park
- Photo of the Crazy Water Park
- Children in pedal boats at the Crazy Water Park
- Large number of photos of the Crazy Water Park
References
- ^ "People relax at newly opened theme park," Shahanaaz Habib, May 21, 2010, The Malaysia Star.
- ^ " Seaside in Gaza: the dress code's almost as dangerous as the surf July 31, 2010, The Age.
- ^ "As the Israeli blockade eases, Gaza goes shopping", Donald Macintyre, 26 July 2010, The Independent.
- ^ "New Gaza Leisure Projects Focus on Fun Not Hardship" August 2, 2010, Reuters, New York Times.
- " "Palestinians in Gaza invest $20m. in new resorts", Khaled Abu Toameh, Jerusalem Post.
- "Edict lifted for female smokers" Jason Koutsoukis, July 29, 2010, The Sunday Morning Herald.