Environment | Sewage treatment plant renovation ongoing

Chief Executive Chui Sai On has signed a notice approving a 24-hour construction work period at the water sewage treatment plant at the Macau Peninsula.

The all-day work began yesterday and will continue until Wednesday morning. It will be completed in two batches of 12 hours. 

The plant is currently replacing its effluent emissary. The replacement had been previously planned to be completed in three days.

Chui’s approval was given after the public’s urgent appeals regarding the treatment plant, as people kept complaining about the negative influence on the environment triggered by the construction project being conducted within the plant.

Following the public’s complaints regarding the construction, the CE permitted the project to be conducted over the 24-hour period, in the hope that the procedure could be completed faster.

“Given the fact that the Macau Peninsula Water Sewage Treatment Plant’s effluent emissary is severely damaged, and that it influences the plant’s operation,” the notice reads, “it is necessary to conduct the replacement construction as fast as possible.”

The approval statement explains the reasoning behind the necessity of a 24-hour construction time: “Taking into account the urgency of the works, as well as in reducing the sewage emissions during the construction period, and also the odors that the plant will spread to its neighboring water quality, and also taking into account the impact it will cause to the living environment in the vicinity.”

During this period, the treatment plant will temporarily stop its operations.

The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, has admitted that the water sewage will be discharged to a nearby water area without treatment during the construction work period.