The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said in a statement that by the submission deadline of 5 p.m. yesterday, it had received a total of 393 bids for its public tenders for the lease and operation of 10 stalls at the food court in the Patane wet market, as well as the lease and operation of five stalls selling various goods such as cooked food, pre-packed frozen aquatic products, and groceries at the Horta da Mitra wet market.
The tenders for the 15 stalls were launched on October 18.
The new law regulating the operation of the city’s wet markets took effect on January 1 last year, according to which the lease and operation of stalls must be granted by public tender except in special circumstances, a change from the previous practice in which available stalls were simply allocated through lucky draws.
The bidding process for the 15 stalls is the first held since the new law took effect.
According to the new wet-market law, the proposed rent is not a factor in the government’s assessments of bids for operating wet market stalls. Instead, yesterday’s statement pointed out, the bureau will assess submitted bids based on five main criteria, namely the bidders’ proposed operation and marketing plan, their experience in running wet market stalls, their proposed operating hours, the level of diversity of their goods, and the availability of various payment methods that shoppers can choose.
The statement also underlined that the granting of the lease of wet market stalls through public tender will bring in “fresh vitality” to the operation of wet markets.
The Horta da Mitra wet market has been closed since early this year for renovations, which include the installation of various new facilities such as an air-conditioning system.
Before the ongoing renovation, there were 13 stalls selling fresh food in the Horta da Mitra wet market. After the renovation, there will be 18 stalls, 13 of which will continue to sell fresh food, while the other five will be selling various other goods.
The ground and first floors of the high-rise Patane Market Municipal Complex are used as a wet market. The bureau started renovating the building’s second floor early this year, a part of which had been used for wet market stalls while the remaining part had been used as a food court since the wet market started operating in 2018. After the renovation, the whole second floor will be used as a food court. The bureau said last month that the renovation aims to create “quite a high-class” food court.
This photo taken during a media tour last month shows some of the stalls in the under-renovation Patane wet market’s food court. – Photo: Tony Wong
