The government said yesterday that it expects to complete its ongoing project of converting the Old Courthouse and the adjacent former Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in the city centre into the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) in January 2026.
The project, which started in October last year, is being carried out in two phases, namely pile foundation and basement work in the first phase and superstructure work in the second phase.
The project will keep the whole structure of the Old Courthouse intact.
While the ongoing project will keep a part of the façade of the former PJ headquarters intact, the remaining part has already been demolished by the building contractor of the project’s first phase for the construction of a new building.
The project’s first phase is currently being carried out by Soi Kun Engineering Company Limited, which is owned by former lawmaker Mak Soi Kun, for a price tag of 55.9 million patacas.
The government launched a public tender last month for the project’s superstructure work. Potential bidders were required to submit their quotations by Wednesday.
A total of 23 construction companies submitted their bids, which were unsealed by Public Works Bureau (DSOP) officials yesterday.
According to a DSOP statement yesterday, 22 of the 23 bids were accepted, while the bureau conditionally accepted the remaining one – the company will have to submit certain documents that it has failed to include in its bid within a specified period of time.
Superstructure to cost up to 256 million patacas
Yesterday’s DSOP statement said that the quotations for the project’s superstructure work proposed by the 23 bidders range from 214 million patacas to 256 million patacas.
The bureau has set a maximum period of 600 working days for the winning bidder to complete the project’s superstructure work.
Yesterday’s statement announced that the construction periods proposed by the 23 bidders range from 530 to 550 working days.
The government did not launch a public tender for the project’s first phase. Instead, it invited seven construction companies, including Soi Kun Engineering, to bid for the project’s first phase. All seven companies submitted their respective bids, which were unsealed by DSOP officials in August last year, after which Soi Kun Engineering, which offered the lowest price, was chosen as the winning bidder.
The project’s first phase is now scheduled to be completed in April next year, according to the DSOP website.
Currently, the Court of Final Appeal shares a building with the Court of Second Instance (TSI) in the Nam Van Lake district.
According to the DSOP website, the whole area consisting of the Old Courthouse and the former PJ headquarters earmarked for the future Court of Final Appeal complex covers 3,524 square metres.
According to the website, the project will keep the whole structure of the Old Courthouse intact, while it will also consolidate its structure. In addition, the project will include the renovation of the interior of the Old Courthouse, including the reorganisation of its internal layout.
In the ongoing project, the façade of the former PJ headquarters on Rua do Padre Luís Fróis S.J., and its east-section façade on Rua Central, will be kept intact, while the remaining part of the former PJ headquarters has already been demolished in the project’s first phase for the construction of a new building that will have three storeys plus a one-floor basement.
The ongoing first phase of the Court of Final Appeal complex project is carrying out the new building’s pile foundation work and its basement.
2nd phase to start in phases
According to yesterday’s DSOP statement, the Court of Final Appeal complex project’s second phase, the submitted bids for which were unsealed yesterday, will start in phases.
The statement said that the consolidation of the Old Courthouse’s structure and the renovation of its interior is expected to get off the ground in January next year.
The statement noted that as the project’s ongoing first phase is only scheduled to be completed in April next year, i.e., the ongoing pile foundation and basement work of the new building to be constructed on the area where the former PJ headquarters has been demolished, the new building’s superstructure work can now be expected to only start at that time, i.e., after April next year.
This photo taken in late July shows the Old Courthouse in Nam Van. – Photo: Tony Wong
