The government has launched a public tender for a project to revitalise part of Coloane’s Lai Chi Vun shipyards area, which was listed as a cultural heritage site in 2018.
According to an announcement published by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday, potential bidders are required to submit their quotations by February 17 next year. The bureau will unseal the submitted bids on February 21.
According to the announcement, the winning bidder will be required to complete the project within 190 working days.
According to the announcement, the revitalisation project will cover plots X11, X12, X13, X14 and X15 in the area.
Construction or engineering companies officially registered with the Lands, Public Works and Transport (DSSOPT) are eligible to submit their bids for the project, according to the announcement.
According to yesterday’s announcement, the Cultural Affairs Bureau will organise an on-site briefing session and inspection for potential bidders on December 28. Those who want to take part in the session will have to make a booking by Thursday next week. Each company can have up to three representatives to join the on-site inspection.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau launched an evaluation process in late 2017 to assess whether Lai Chi Vun Village and its traditional shipyards should be listed as a cultural heritage site.
After the evaluation process, which was required to be completed within a year, the Lai Chi Vun shipyards area was officially classified as a cultural heritage site in December 2018.
There were initially about 16 shipyards in the village, but several of them had previously collapsed. The Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) also demolished two badly dilapidated shipyards in 2017, so there are now about a dozen old shipyards remaining in the village, but many of them are in a badly dilapidated condition, which the government says is posing a safety threat.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau announced its latest plan in September last year to revitalise certain plots in the Lai Chi Vun shipyards area in the first phase, namely X11, X12, X13, X14, X15 and X19, according to which the bureau will create spaces that combine cultural and creative markets, a leisure square, a multifunctional activity space, and a lime factory exhibition hall.
X12 and X15 are the two plots where the two demolished shipyards were located. Three dilapidated shipyards are still remaining on plots X11, X13 and X14. An old lime factory is located on X19.
The bureau has said that it aims for the first phase of its project to revitalise the Lai Chi Vun shipyards area to be completed by the end of next year.
According to a public consultation document published by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, shipyards began to be built in Lai Chi Vun Village in the 1950s. The shipbuilding activities in the village started to decrease in the 1990s, and the last boat was built there in 2006, the document notes.
The document notes that shipbuilding, alongside the incense, firecracker and match industries, were Macau’s four traditional industries for many decades. Lai Chi Vun Village is one of the most complete heritage sites of traditional shipbuilding left in southern China, the document points out.
The bureau carried out a two-month public consultation in 2018 when its cultural heritage evaluation process for the Lai Chi Vun shipyards area was ongoing.
This picture released by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) in September last year shows the design concept of its project to revitalise plots X11 to X15, and X19 (from right to left) in Coloane’s Lai Chi Vun shipyards area.
