A new children’s playground in Lam Mau Tong district will open on Wednesday next week, featuring the Macau peninsula’s first outdoor sandpit, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) announced in a statement on Friday.
Initially after the opening of the sandpit, appointments will be required to enter the sandpit, because the bureau expects a large number of parents taking their children to the sandpit initially, the statement said.
In addition, the statement said, children aged five or below must be accompanied by their parents to enter the sandpit with the aim of ensuring their safety.
The statement also said that some of the playground’s facilities are “challenging” for kids to play on, urging parents to choose suitable ones for their children in line with their ages and abilities.
The children’s playground that will come into use next week is the second phase of a temporary recreational area in Lam Mau Tong, the district south-west of Fai Chi Kei.
The Municipal Affairs Bureau commenced a project in late 2020 to convert four idle plots of land in Lam Mau Tong into a temporary recreational area in two phases, the first phase of which came into use in August last year, a fitness area that comprises a basketball court, an area for basketball shooting drills, and fitness equipment for different exercise intensities.
Afterwards, the project’s second phase, which built the children’s playground, got off the ground, before it was completed earlier this month.
Friday’s IAM statement noted that with the aim of responding to residents’ desire for the government to increase the city’s leisure spaces by making good use of idle plots of land, the Municipal Affairs Bureau decided to convert the four idle plots of land near Avenida Marginal do Lam Mau into a temporary recreational area with a total area of 6,220 square metres in phases, featuring various recreational facilities and a children’s playground. The statement underlined that the temporary recreational area aims to enable residents in Lam Mau Tong and Fai Chi Kei to enjoy a diverse leisure space.
The statement announced that after the operational start of the temporary recreational area’s fitness area in August last year, a children’s playground and a roller-skating rink there, covering a total area of 2,300 square metres, will open to members of the public on Wednesday november 9. The playground and roller-skating rink will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., the statement said.
‘Fun of sand & water’
The statement said that the new children’s playground will feature various innovative play facilities, such as an outdoor sandpit, the first of its kind on the Macau peninsula, which will enable children to “enjoy the fun of sand and water in the community”.
The statement also said that with the aim of ensuring the quality of the sandpit, checks and cleaning will be carried out before it opens every day. In addition, the sandpit will be closed for maintenance once a month.
In the children’s playground, there are also different kinds of slides, artificial-grass hills, and other parent-child play facilities, the statement said, adding that the facilities are suitable for children aged between 3 and 12 to practise their physical coordination and balance.
In addition, the statement said, a group of “moderately challenging high-rise play facilities with climbing elements” in the playground will enable older children to learn how to play safely while improving their physical fitness.
The temporary recreational area is also equipped with barrier-free parent-child toilets and breastfeeding rooms, the statement said.
This undated handout photo released by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) on Friday shows workers preparing for the upcoming opening of a children’s playground in Lam Mau Tong, which features a sandpit and will come into use on Wednesday November 9.
