Re-claim

New Area Zone A, the largest of the five new urban reclaimed areas occupying 1.38 square kilometres, will be finished this year in sync with the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the government said after a meeting of the Follow-up Committee for Land and Public Concession Affairs.
The government will also deliver the project for the housing to be developed in the New Area Zone A to the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) at the end of this year, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosário said yesterday.
Altogether the five new areas will add 3.5 square kilometres to the MSAR area, with Zone A to be connected to the Macau Peninsula and the artificial island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
The government is planning to create 32,000 housing units in the reclaimed areas, with 28,000 being public and 4,000 being private, and with the majority to be in Zone A.
The housing units will be developed in phases, said Secretary Rosario, to be initiate in the North area of Zone A, but without specifying the amount and type of housing.
The Secretary also underlined that the sand supply for the city’s new urban reclaimed land Zone A, that led to a one-year delay on its completion, had been “completely resolved and stabilised”.
According to the chairman of the Committee, Ho Ion Song, the area “traffic system” was also being developed in parallel with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge opening.
Access routes between Macau Peninsula and the artificial island where the border gates administrated by the three regions will be located, are currently under construction “with public tenders having been initiated in 2016”.
“The government is confident it can conclude these deadlines and is awaiting Chinese central government confirmation for the inauguration date of the bridge, that’s the essential,” he added.
In regard to the public housing development on the reclaimed area, Mr. Ho said that after three public consultations were conducted the government is advancing “step by step” with the development plan for the North region of Zone A’s “lane map” and “sewer system” already defined.
“After the roundabout next to Pearl Horizon there will be a connection with six driving lanes to the central area of Zone A, with the constructions making an effort to be concluded soon,” he added.

From B to E2
Zone B has already been completed, with Secretary Rosario saying he hoped the projects for the judiciary and administrative area to be created on the land plot could start this year.
The judiciary area will occupy the area in front of the MGM Hotel, with a park area to be developed next to the Macau Sciences Centre, it was explained by the government.
According to the chairman of the committee, the government assured them any development in Zone B would follow “UNESCO height limit recommendations” that were yet to be defined.
The Committee chairman said the government is also currently preparing the project plans for Zone C, which can be finished this year, with Secretary Rosario saying the plan for Zone D could “maybe” be completed next year.
The government is currently studying the tunnel connection that would connect the Macau Peninsula and Taipa, with the tunnel connection potentially happening between Zone B and Zone D, on the east side of Nobre de Carvalho Bridge.
In 2016, Mainland China-based infrastructure design company CCCC Highway Consultants was hired to produce a feasibility study related to the development of two tunnels between Macau and Taipa, expected for the third quarter of the current year.
Of the two separate areas in Taipa, the reclamation of the Zone E1, close do Amizade Bridge, is expected to be concluded this year, with Zone E2 already completed.
“In Zone E1, the government will build police installations for Customs and a centre for helicopter repairs,” Mr. Ho said.
A study on the feasibility of constructing a fourth bridge between Zone A in Macau to Zone E1 in Taipa is still being evaluated by the central government.
“The government is making an ecological impact assessment. Only after its conclusion can it initiate a concrete project for the bridge,” the Committee chairman said yesterday.


LRT
The Light Rail Transit (LRT) was also discussed during the meeting with the Secretary, who assuring that the Taipa segment would be finished in 2019.
With regard to the Barra segment of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) the chairman of the Committee, Ho Ion Sang, said “only after the public tenders [are] initiated and proposals are evaluated” could the government provide a date for the development of the itinerary and the station on the Macau side.
“Changes related to the station and the Macau line will have to take into consideration the new territorial waters and society’s needs,” he added.


No environmental study
for Pac On Ferry Terminal
While not legally obligatory, the project for the Pac On Ferry Terminal was not preceded by an environmental impact study, according to Portuguese-language broadcaster TDM. The information was provided by the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) to the broadcaster although not falling under the department’s responsibility. The study would have informed of any potential impact upon the white dolphins, which activists note tend to gather around the airport zone (next to the ferry terminal).