AL PLENARY | High costs estimated for new Macau-Guangdong border project

The new border between Macau and Guangdong province, located within the Ilha Verde (Green Island) area, is set to involve high costs, although the government does not yet have a precise budget for the large-scale project and adjacent areas, the deputy coordinator of the Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT), Chau Vai Man, told lawmakers yesterday.
Besides a border checkpoint, the large-scale project also comprises an industrial park, where a new wholesale market will be built, along with the restructuring of the Canal dos Patos and a multimodal transportation center and a large-
scale public housing complex, which will be built in the Ilha Verde area.
The project will be developed under cooperation between Zhuhai and Macau authorities, and will thus involve high costs.
“We will take into consideration users’ demands, the cost of materials and their estimated rise. The amount of money to be invested is huge and entails cooperation between the governments of the two regions. But we will be using public money rationally,” he said replying to lawmakers spoken enquiries.
The debate regarding the new border was raised following a spoken enquiry delivered by lawmaker Zheng Anting, who was seeking the answer as to why construction works haven’t yet been launched.
The project for the new wholesale market has been designed, and construction works have been granted to a respective company. The government said that the market will be ready by 2016. The project for the border checkpoint building has also been designed but for everything else, however, there is a need for authorities in both cities to submit respective concrete requirements.
A new “multimodal transportation center” has also been envisioned for the Ilha Verde area, which will include a variety of public transportation systems, such as the LRT, buses, taxis and a pedestrian structure.
The new border with Zhuhai, whose construction is due to be underway next year, will be located 800 meters away from the Gonbei Border Gate, currently Macau’s main border crossing point. MDT/Lusa