ANM renews opposition to Infectious Diseases Building

The building will be located close to the S. Francisco Garden (pictured)

The New Macau Association (ANM) has condemned the lack of transparency involved in the decision-making process and the end design for the planned Infectious Diseases Building (IDB) at Macau’s public hospital, Hospital Conde S. Januário, and is calling for the whole plan to be reconsidered.
According to a statement from the group, officials from the public hospital, the Health Bureau and the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture (GSASC) all insist that their current plan is the best and only option available and that it “warrants no further delay, nor debate.”
However, ANM is criticizing the authorities for failing to disclose the details of their final plan, including crucial information needed by residents to fully understand the nature and impact of the project.
“Let’s give GSASC the benefit of the doubt and assume their ‘final’ plan to be immaculate – the location, function and size, among other [things],” reads the ANM statement. “Our question would be, why has no detail of such a perfect plan, at least the best available according to them [GSASC], ever been disclosed?”
The statement continued, saying that “[the] government chose to deny us this chance” to review and discuss the final plan.
According to the statement, the area to be demolished under the IDB plan “forms a rare complex of colonial buildings and monuments, whose size and integrity remain unrivaled by other local sites.”
The proposed demolition has prompted the ANM to question the necessity of the size of the complex, adding that the new Islands Hospital appears to have a similar intended date of completion to the forecasted completion date for the IDB, according to current estimates.
However, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, has previously said that no completion date has been set for the Islands Hospital, nor a budget for the complex, which will include six different buildings.
Nevertheless ANM is urging the government to reconsider the impact that the construction of the IDB will have on the central historical area of the MSAR, as well as the effect on nearby residents and tourists.
“All these elements happen to fall under the GSASC. We expect nothing short of total responsibility from the chief of the GSASC in coordinating different departments to work towards a plan that serves the various interests,” they added. DB