Secretary for Administration and Justice Andre Cheong
The government has decided to suspend the project of building a Kun Iam statue at the Hac-Sa Reservoir Park in the face of public opinion against the project, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong, said yesterday at a press conference to address the recently presented projects.
Cheong said that while the intention was good, in the light of public criticism of the project the government had decided to suspend the construction of the controversial statue and adjacent structures, vowing to redo the areas damaged by the construction that was already started on the site.
The press conference was held yesterday afternoon at the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), just a few hours after the Association of Synergy of Macau handed in a petition with nearly 9,000 signatures from residents opposed to the project (see page 2).
Several other sectors of society have also in the last few days expressed opinions against the development of the area and the placement of the statue.
“Some residents have opinions on the statue. We have been communicating with several organizations and heard these opinions. There are many different opinions. We had the intention of building a larger space to provide better conditions [for] the residents,” Cheong said while advancing that the construction has been suspended.
Cheong also took the opportunity to do a mea culpa in what concerns the communication between the entities responsible for the project, namely the IAM and the public, stating, “We have and we will reinforce work related to the communication.”
To the many questions from the media, Cheong explained, that the reason that led to the decision to build the statue was as a part of the revamp of this public space, noting, “We choose Kun Iam for a symbol of fortune and tranquility. We hoped to bring calm and hope to some residents, namely the elderly,” the Secretary remarked, adding that the decision to suspend the project immediately aims to prove that the government is not against peoples’ opinions.
“We heard all the opinions because this is related to the life of the people and we need to hear them. If they don’t agree we need to accept that and that’s why we decided to suspend [the project]. We don’t want something that was being done for the benefit of the population to become a negative thing,” Cheong further explained, noting that for the time being they will redo the “Plant Labyrinth” area at the top of the park and also fix the grass slide zone. Later on, the IAM will come up with a new plan on how to improve the area following the public opinions collected, the Secretary said, advancing that the expansion of the barbecue area is potentially one of the targets.
The government is now studying the best way to terminate the contract with the company that was supposed to revamp the park, a matter that according to Cheong, should not be a big problem as “all the contracts have provisions for these cases.”
