Survey | Guia Hill pedestrian tunnel seen favorably

More than 90 percent of respondents to a survey were in favor of excavating a pedestrian tunnel through the Guia Hill, connecting the areas of Horta e Costa and NAPE. The project is expected to encourage people to walk instead of drive to work or schools in that neighborhood, according to an online opinion poll conducted by the General Association of Macau Clerical Employees.
The association disclosed the poll results in a press conference yesterday. It concluded that 94.3 percent of the 826 surveyed people showed strong support for the Association’s proposal of erecting a pedestrian passage at the Guia Hill for commuters who frequent the two districts.
The online poll, which began at the beginning of February, has also reflected that 89 percent of the respondents expressed a willingness to use the tunnel, while 60 percent of them were actually daily commuters between the two districts.
However, 5.1 percent of respondents in the poll objected to the plan, as they were afraid that the excavation would take a toll on the nearby surroundings, as well as on the structure of the mountain and its existing tunnel. They also expressed concerns about a possible misallocation of public funds for the project.
The vice president of the association, Ron Lam U Tou, told media that the government has failed to provide a detailed time frame for the tunnel construction, despite the proposal surfacing two years ago. “The respondents’ major opinions are to implement [the excavation] as soon as possible,” said the vice president. “We hope the government can offer an explicit response and a detailed time frame for the proposal in its policy address, especially in the field of transport and public works.” He also hoped that the proposal could eventually become a reality.
Ron Lam told media that the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo Rosário, is expected to meet with him on April 9 to discuss the proposal and the opinions collected from through the survey. However, he said that the location of the meeting was yet to be settled.
According to the association’s vice president, the online poll, which has been running for one and a half months, will remain open until the date the meeting takes place. Staff reporter