Master plan is the essential piece missing in city planning puzzle

Computer rendering for the land reclamation zones project currently under construction

The lack of a master plan for the urban development of Macau was considered the most important barrier to the completion of several projects in both the public and private sectors, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário acknowledged yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL), where he was answering the questions of legislators on the sectorial policies from his secretariat.
To resolve this critical issue, the Secretary announced that the government will finally launch a public consultation on Macau’s urban master plan this year.
According to Rosário, “the consultation text, although it does not address every location in detail, will clearly define the direction that we want to follow.”
“When I took office as Secretary of this sector I [set out] as the main priority the definition of urban planning that the city is lacking,” the Secretary said in reply to lawmaker Sulu Sou who had asked for details on the development of several land plots, namely in the Nam Van area.
“Although for several reasons, it was not possible yet to conclude the master plan, the preliminary project is ready to be submitted to public consultation,” said Rosário.
The Secretary advanced that the public consultation is likely to be launched in late September or early October this year.
But the public consultation on the city’s master plan is not the only consultation that the Secretariat for Transport and Public Works plans to hold.
During his introductory overview of the policies for the year, Rosário also announced that he is also launching another public consultation, this time for the route of the East line of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) that aims to connect the Taipa line (at Pac On) to the Border Gate checkpoint passing through Zone E and Zone A of the new landfills and with a link to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Port.
This project is, according to Rosário, of “utmost importance for the future of the city.”
During yesterday’s plenary sessions, the work of Rosário was highly praised by a large number of lawmakers that took time from their interventions to summarize the advances and positive results over the past five years. Some also took the opportunity to highlight the fast response of the Secretary to the situation caused by the Covid-19 epidemic and the capacity to organize, start and, in some cases, conclude necessary road works that were initially planned to be done over the summer, minimizing in this way the inconvenience to the population.

OLD BRIDGE HINDERS BUS MODERNIZATION
The Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, the first road link between the Peninsula and the Island of Taipa that entered into operation in 1974, is considered an obstacle for the development and modernization of public transport in Macau, the Secretary said during yesterday’s AL session.
Replying to a question by lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong, who had asked if Macau plans to follow the trend of replacing fuel-powered buses with electric-powered ones, Rosário noted that a large number of bus routes pass through the bus hub of Praça Ferreira do Amaral and many then head to Taipa via the Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge.
“Electric buses are much heavier than traditional buses and [for that reason] cannot circulate on the Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, which is being used mostly for public transportation,” answered the Secretary. “If we adopt this type of bus, we would have to alter the routes so they could travel to Taipa on one of the other bridges. I am sure this would cause a lot of disruption and that many people would complain about that.”
On the same topic, several lawmakers including Ng, Wong Kit Cheng, and Lei Chan U also wanted to know the latest updates concerning the new bus service contracts. The existing contracts are due to expire at the end of this year.
On the topic, the Secretary said he was well aware that the extension granted to the service operators will expire this year. Rosário said that his staff are working on the details and conditions for the new contracts, but he refused to disclose any details during yesterday’s session.
“I cannot reveal the details yet,” said Rosário, “but what I can promise you is that I will have that work done before August 15, before the AL goes into summer recess.”

LRT project to advance quickly in future
The situation of the Light Rapid Transit project, which briefly entered into operation at the end of last year before it was suspended during the pandemic outbreak, was also on the agenda of several lawmakers.
The Secretary said that he expects that the LRT project will move at a faster pace to make up for some of the lost time in this initial phase.
“The LRT will definitely interlink with buses,” Rosário said, answering a specific question about the sharing of payment infrastructure between public transportation services. “This is the kind of work that we will be doing now. I admit that we had a delay to this project, but we are moving forward faster and I hope to have the contract awarded for the construction of the Hengqin line completed this year.”
Questioned by lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho on the current status and conclusion date for the Barra Station that will extend the Taipa line to the Peninsula, Rosário said, “do not worry, Barra Station is currently on time and budget.” He said that it will be ready by 2023.

Macau ready for more anti-plastic laws
Rosário also said yesterday that he is pleased with the results of the plastic bag law that came into effect last November. He said that the results obtained over the five months of implementation show that Macau is now in the position to move forward with further restrictions against other disposable products.
The Secretary described the policy as a success because, according to him, the majority of the public is now using reusable shopping bags.
“I agree that the plastic bag law has achieved good results,” he told lawmakers this afternoon. “I’m happy to note this when I go to the supermarket and see that the majority of people are using reusable bags.”
The plastic bag law requires all vendors in retail locations to charge 1 pataca for each plastic shopping bag. Food and medicines without packaging are exempted from the bill, as are products purchased in certain areas at the airport.
Lawmakers Wong Kit Cheng and Sulu Sou inquired as to whether the government would extend similar measures to other environmentally harmful products, including plastic water bottles and single-use utensils.
The Secretary said that he thinks Macau is now in the position to move forward with these additional restrictions and his departments would continue to work on the matter.
Last year, research conducted in the SAR suggested that each Macau resident uses 2.2 plastic bags per day on average. The government said it expected the plastic bag law to reduce the use of plastic bags by at least 50%.