Qatar will build a QR1.6 billion ($435.3 million) food storage and processing facility at Hamad Port capable of supplying a stockpile for three main commodities – rice, sugar, and edible oils – for 3 million people for two and a half years, said a report.

Qatar’s Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti made the announcement after a signing ceremony between the New Port Project (NPP) Steering Committee and Al Jaber Engineering (JEC), the main contractor and designer of the Strategic Food Security Facilities Project, added the Gulf Times report.

Al-Sulaiti said that the facilities will be built on a 530,000-sq-m area adjacent to Hamad Port, adding that the project consists of specialised facilities for the processing, manufacturing and refining of rice, raw sugar and edible oils.

He noted that Phase 1 of the Strategic Food Security Facilities Project is expected to be completed in 26 months, added the report.