China builds main courthouse in Guinea-Bissau

The foundation stone for the construction of Guinea-Bissau’s Palace of Justice, the country’s main courthouse was laid Thursday and the work paid for by China will take 20 months, according to Portuguese news agency Lusa.
The ceremony was held in the city of Bissau and attended by several officials of the Guinean state, including Cassamá Cipriano, President of the country’s Parliament, the building of which was also financed and built by China.
Justice Minister Carmelita Pires, said the Palace of Justice “dignifies the legal system” and that China should be congratulated for all it had done to assist the organs of sovereignty of Guinea-Bissau.
China has built the seat of government, the Colinas do Boe Palace (parliament), rebuilt the presidential palace damaged by the civil war of 1998-99, built the National Stadium (the only one with natural grass in the country) and even built the main hospital in the northern part of the country, in Canchungo, and the Military Hospital in Bissau.
The work on the Palace of Justice, which will have an area of ​​9,500 square meters, will cost USD14.5 million, and be carried out by a Chinese company under the supervision of the Guinean government.
The Chinese ambassador in Guinea-Bissau, Huang Hua, used the occasion to announce that his country will build 200 social homes as well as provide solar lighting equipment to major thoroughfares in Bissau.  MDT/Macauhub