Ka Ho old leprosery revamp complete

The Our Lady of Sorrows Church

The revamp of the Ka Ho old leprosery is now complete and the site will be used for youth education and tourism, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam announced yesterday.

Yesterday, a media group guided by Tam’s Secretariat and the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) was taken to visit the Ka Ho village.

During the visit, it was announced that repairs of the five Portuguese-style houses in the former Ka Ho leper colony were finished in May, costing a total of MOP6.7 million. Renovations of the houses have taken five years to complete since 2016.

An IC representative revealed that the properties will be used as training base for young people and to educate the public about the history of leprosy in Macau.

“In the future, the government plans to use this area, which offers a special environment, to let young people use it as a camp site to learn about old architectural history and about the lifestyle of leprosy patients,” said the IC representative.

A church near the newly-repaired houses will also be repaired shortly.

“It was a church in the past. Hopefully it can be renovated as an exhibition space to exhibit social welfare or medical history,” the IC representative said.

The small church, named Our Lady of Sorrows Church, was built in 1966 to serve the needs of the Ka Ho settlement, predominantly made up of the families of cured lepers and those newly afflicted with the disease. It has a bronze crucifix over the north door which was created and given to Ka Ho by the Italian sculptor Francisco Messima.

The Secretary Alexis Tam said, “Not only can they be education centers, they can also be used by tourists for leisure purposes. It’s not just these five houses. There are hills on the back. Hopefully it can be made into a leisure, culture and art area. I believe that more residents, tourists and youth will use the facilities.”

A sixth house is currently under evaluation regarding its renovation plan, with its renovation expected to finish in 2019.

Once complete, this house will also be used for educational and tourism purposes.

“Not only they can be used by young people to exhibit their artwork, they can also be used by artists, residents and tourists to exhibit their work,” said Alexis Tam, adding, “I encourage residents and tourists to [get to] know Ka Ho. There are many famous places of interest.”

The government also revealed that there is discussion between the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau and the Transport Bureau regarding the provision of ancillary transport facilities to the village.

Aged care center expected to open in 2018

THE HEALTH complex for the elderly located at Ka Ho is expected to open by the end of this year at the earliest and the beginning of next year at the latest, the Secretary Alexis Tam revealed yesterday. Tam visited the facilities, accompanied by government officials from the Health Bureau (SSM) and the Social Affairs Bureau. Upon acknowledging that it felt like “a first class” facility, Tam said that all conditions for the facility to commence operations have been met. According to Tam, SSM had 4,355 employees in 2017. The health sector has 588 doctors and over 1,200 nurses in total.  “Last year, [the government] already started preparing to increase human resources. In 2019, [the health authority] will hire more [staff],” said Alexis Tam.