Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai pledged yesterday that the government will “thoroughly” study civil society’s various views about the future vehicular link connecting the Zone A land reclamation area and Nape (皇朝區) with the aim of making a final decision on how the link should be constructed.
However, the chief executive also pointed out that the future height of the ongoing Zone A-Nape flyover project, which got off the ground late last year, would be lower than that of the Macau-Taipa Friendship Bridge, in response to the view that the sea-crossing flyover would affect the view of Guia Lighthouse.
Sam made the remarks while speaking to reporters at The Plaza Restaurant in Zape after attending a Spring Festival gala hosted by the Macau Chinese Enterprises Association.
Initially, the government planned to build an undersea tunnel for the future link between Zone A and Nape, before deciding in 2023 to build a sea-crossing flyover instead.
The ongoing Zone A-Nape link project with a price tag of 2.18 billion patacas, which got off the ground in October last year, is to build a 1,550-metre-long vehicular overpass running between an area near the Kun Iam Statue on the Nape waterfront and the southern area of Zone A, including a 900-metre-long coastal water-spanning section running under the Macau-Taipa Friendship Bridge and landing in Nape near the Macau Science Centre (MSC).
Some lawmakers, civic leaders and heritage activists have said that the height of the flyover project would exceed the official height limit for an area surrounding Guia Lighthouse on the top of Guia Hill, urging the government to halt the ongoing project and revert to an undersea tunnel as originally planned.
The government said last year that the Zone A-Nape flyover, with its top to be 25.8 metres above sea level, is not legally defined as a building because of which it is not subject to the official height limit aiming to protect the view of Guia Lighthouse.
Speaking to reporters when asked about the Zone A-Nape link project, Sam noted that construction projects are intensively being carried out in Zone A, which will be a very important residential neighbourhood in the future where there will also be a number of schools, because of which its traffic link with the peninsula will be very important, he said.
Sam pointed out that while the government had already hired a construction consortium last year to carry out the Zone A-Nape link project, he has been aware of the various opinions raised in civil society concerning the project, including its possible impact on the view of the UNESCO World Heritage-protected Guia Lighthouse and even possible violation of view-protection regulations.
Sam underlined that the extent to which the ongoing the Zone A-Nape link project would adversely affect the view of the UNESCO World Heritage-protected Guia Lighthouse would depend on the project’s construction design, according to which, he noted, the flyover would run under Friendship Bridge, the height of which is, consequently, higher than that of the future flyover.
Sam said that Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man and Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Wallis O Lam will thoroughly study the matter, including considering the various opinions raised in civil society.
Vehicles drive along Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen on the Nape waterfront near the Macau Science Centre (MSC) earlier this month where construction of a sea-crossing flyover linking with Zone A (left) started late last year. – Photo: Tony Wong
