The indirectly elected lawmaker, Ho Ion Sang, representing the Macau General Union of Neighborhood Associations, commonly referred to as “Kai Fong,” has expressed concerns over the idea of removing vehicle traffic from the Rua da Felicidade (Happiness Street) in central Macau.
In a spoken inquiry delivered yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL) in the period before the agenda, Ho noted that the implementation of such a measure would “inevitably increase traffic pressure in the surrounding areas, affecting the movement of residents and the loading and unloading of goods by traders in the area.”
The lawmaker called on the government, before advancing such an idea, to communicate with the interested parties and find a balanced way to convey the interests of both sides.
Implying that the residents and shop owners in the area are not happy with the government’s decision, Ho asked the government to consider experimenting first, implementing the measure as a trial before considering full implementation.
Such a phased implementation should also follow a plan to be disclosed in advance to all interested parties so that reorganization of traffic and contingency plans to respond to emergencies, among others, could have proper planning as well as reduce the perceived impacts on the public.
Ho noted that currently the number of tourists is already quite high when compared with the pandemic times, and so implementing such a measure, as occurred before with the trial project of making the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro a pedestrian zone for some time, could increase the agglomeration of people, instead of spreading of the visitors to different areas of the city.
In the same inquiry, the lawmaker also called on the authorities to improve the transportation and the general environment at the recently created tourist attractions, such as the former Iec Long Firecracker Factory in Taipa, the Village of Our Lady of Ka Ho, and the old Shipyards of Lai Chi Vun in Coloane, so that tourists will be motivated to visit such places.
“I hope the government will continue to improve transport to these attractions, and introduce new elements to increase the attractiveness. Itineraries need to be reviewed and optimized within the scope of the ‘Taking a Walk through the Streets of Macao’ and ‘Feel Macau’ step-by-step’ initiatives. New routes need to be defined, and publicized and general promotion needs to be strengthened,” he remarked.
The announcement of the idea of turning the street into a pedestrian zone came at last week’s meeting of the Cultural Development Committee.
