The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has announced that the Horta da Mitra wet market will close from tomorrow for renovation, which will start next month.
The renovation will include the installation of various new facilities such as an air-conditioning system. The project aims to make it more comfortable for stall owners and staff to work and for residents to shop there.
The bureau made the announcement in a statement on Friday.
The renovation is expected to be completed at the end of this year, the statement said.
The Cantonese name of the Horta da Mitra Municipal Market is transliterated as Jeuk Jai Yun, which is literally translated as Little Bird Garden.
The Horta da Mitra Municipal Market, built in 1939, is located behind Rua do Campo.
The bureau also said that the renovation project would cost around 11 million patacas.
Friday’s statement underlined that the Horta da Mitra market’s equipment and facilities such as sewerage network, ventilation system and lighting facilities have become worn. Even though the bureau has carried out many repairs in recent years, the statement said, the market building’s dilapidated conditions have still not been solved.
Consequently, the statement said, major renovation of the Horta da Mitra market is needed.
After consulting the Horta da Mitra market’s stall owners, the neighbourhood’s community associations, and various professionals such as architects and experts on historic building conservation, the statement said, the bureau has drawn up a plan for the market’s renovation, according to which the market building’s architectural façade will be kept intact, the market’s internal layout will be restructured, and new equipment and facilities will be installed.
“The renovation aims to improve the market’s business environment and provide residents with a better shopping experience,” the statement said.
Changes in ratio of male & female toilet cubicles
According to the statement, the renovation will preserve the Horta da Mitra market’s architectural appearance, install an air-conditioning and ventilation system, and improve the lighting system. In addition, the project will also adjust the ratio of male and female toilet cubicles, i.e., increasing the number of female toilet cubicles in relation to male ones, according to the statement.
Moreover, the project will also improve the market’s sewerage system and install barrier-free facilities there.
The statement said that as there are only 13 stalls operating in the Horta da Mitra market currently, extra spaces will be available for restructuring the market’s internal layout of stalls.
The statement also said that separate entrances and exits will be installed for the market’s shopping area and the work area with the aim of separating shoppers from those delivering fresh and live food to the market.
With a fully-fledged air-conditioning and ventilation system and improved management of the Horta da Mitra market after it reopens, the statement said, “The traditional wetness of a wet market will be improved, and a comfortable and neat image of a fresh food market will be created”.
The statement also underlined that all stall owners have agreed to suspend their business operations so that the renovations can be carried out at full pace.
Friday’s announcement of the project to renovate the Horta da Mitra market came after the bureau’s ongoing project of renovating the heritage-listed Red Market got off the ground in May last year.
The Red Market, which opened in 1936, is the only wet market building in Macau listed as a cultural heritage site.
The Red Market, officially known as Almirante Lacerda Municipal Market, is located on the corner of Avenida de Horta e Costa and Avenida do Almirante Lacerda.
Before the renovation of the Red Market building started in May last year, stalls that had operated in the Red Market were moved to a temporary wet market building, which is located near the Patane Market, in late March last year for continuous business operations.
A man walks past the Horta da Mitra market on Saturday. – Photo: Tony Wong
