Gov’t changes land strategy, drops Central Library, Justice Campus

The government has changed its strategy relating to the use of land for the construction of public facilities and the provision of public services.
The decision seems to be based on the conservation of land resources and the development of new large-scale projects.
Contributing to this change in strategy is also the repossession of numerous idle land plots in the last few years, which granted the government a new “land bank” and with that, new possibilities and options.
In a recent report from TDM Radio, the news outlet confirmed that the old idea of using Zone B of the new landfills for the construction of a “Justice Campus” gathering all services and departments related to the judicial authorities has finally been abandoned by the executive.
Although such confirmation comes only now, there have previously been several signs of the change of strategy, starting with the announcement of the construction of the new building for the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) at the Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues, plot 138 A in ZAPE area dating from 2016.
Still, the final blow to the “Justice Campus” project seems to have taken place with the unveiling, in 2017, of the project for the Fifth Macau-Taipa link that will be built via an underwater tunnel, linking Zone B (on Macau side) and Zone D of the new landfills (on Taipa side), reducing significantly the usable area of the Zone B land plot.
In the same report from TDM Radio, it is also confirmed that the government is moving forward with the expansion project of the Court of First Instance (TJB), making use of the recently reclaimed land plots located on both sides of the current building that has been in use since August 2017 to house only the criminal courts.
The wish to expand such a facility and to house under the same roof the civil court, as well as the labor disputes and juvenile and family courts, among others, has been expressed for a long time and on several occasions. Legislative Assembly (AL) lawmakers were among the strongest critics of the policy from the previous governments to rent space from private corporations instead of building government-owned venues.
Year after year, and especially when the annual budget is discussed at the AL, many voices are raised against the resources spent in keeping these rented facilities.

Old court likely to return to original duties
Questioned by the Times on the possibility of the old court building being revamped to house new facilities of support to the Courts of Second Instance and Final Appeal, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) has refused to disclose such information, postponing detailed information on such a project to September 4, the day on which the government will start the long-awaited public consultation period on Macau’s Urban Master Plan.
“On that day, there will be revealed, in a detailed manner, the information [solicited],” the DSSOPT said in a written reply to the Times.
Nevertheless, sources close to the project told the Times that the old court building is “likely to go back to its original duties” as the expansion of the current building located at the Nam Van Lakeside previously planned had been halted due to the construction of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform Complex, which barely occupied all the land available in that area.
On Wednesday, several media outlets came out with the information that the project of the Central Library had been axed, with some speculating that the project would be, instead, moving to the Zone A of the new landfills.
A similar feeling was expressed several years ago by lawmakers at the AL who, addressing the topic of the proposed project of the central library, said that it might be a good idea to revive the space to be exactly like a court, pointing out many problems and difficulties in developing the project that had also been attracting much criticism from several sectors of society, including several urban planners.
In the last estimation, the Central Library project was said to cost as much as 900 million patacas and was one of the major projects announced and catered for by the former Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam.
When she took office, the new Secretary Elsie Ao Ieong said that such a project had to be reevaluated.
In June this year, Ao Ieong addressed the topic once again, noting that the Central Library project was being reconsidered in light of the Urban Master Plan, which will be submitted for public consultation next week.