Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council member Wong Leong Kuan quoted Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) officials as saying yesterday that the government’s project of revitalising part of Coloane’s Lai Chi Vun shipyards area, covering plots X11, X12, X13, X14 and X15, was carried out in the third quarter of last year, and it was now expected to be completed in the “first to second” quarters of this year.
The Lai Chi Vun shipyards area was listed as a cultural heritage site in 2018.
Wong made the remarks during a press briefing after the government-appointed council’s closed-door meeting with IC officials about their project to renovate and revitalise the Iec Long Firecracker Factory on Rua Fernão Mendes Pinto in Taipa and the Lai Chi Vun shipyards area, at the Community Integrated Building in Coloane’s Seac Pai Van public housing estate.
According to the officials, Wong said, the existing structure of the shipyards will be maintained as far as possible and the original appearance will be preserved to the “greatest extent”. In the future, she added, the bureau may consider including commercial activities in the project, while using the open spaces of the shipyards area for outdoor activities.
Ng Hong Kei, deputy convener of the council, added during the press briefing that attractions such as cultural and creative areas, restaurants and bazaars would gradually be set up at the shipyards area, which were expected to open to the public in the second quarter of this year, while the project’s commercial aspects would be completed within this year through a public tender and administrative procedures.
Meanwhile, as for the second phase of the revitalisation project of the Iec Long Firecracker Factory, Ng quoted the officials as saying that a café, parent-child play facilities, the revitalisation of its old manufacturing plants, further improvements to its old waterway and ponds, and the optimisation of the water supply and drainage facilities will be included in the project. However, according to the officials, with the aim of retaining the original appearance of the former firecracker factory as much as possible, the project was still in the design and study stage, so no final decision had been made yet.
The old firecracker factory compound, which covers about 25,000 square metres and features a 400-metre wooden walkway, officially opened to the public last month. Admission is free.
Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council deputy convenor Ng Hong Kei (left) and council member Wong Leong Kuan look on during yesterday’s press briefing after the council’s regular closed-door meeting at the Community Integrated Building in Coloane’s Seac Pai Van public housing estate. – Photo: Yuki Lei
