The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) yesterday launched a public tender for the lease and operation of 20 stalls slated to sell light meals or cultural and creative products at the Taipa wet market building, the revamp of which is scheduled to get off the ground later this month.
Taipa Market, the island’s sole wet market, is located just next to Taipa Village’s Rua do Cunha, a pedestrianised street featuring restaurants and shops selling local snacks and delicacies which has become one of Macau’s most popular tourist attractions.
Taipa Market currently sells fresh and live food, with several stalls selling traditional groceries.
Over recent years, the bureau has been carrying out a campaign aiming to revitalise the operations of the city’s wet markets.
Since Coloane Market was closed for good in December last year, Macau currently has a total of eight wet market buildings, comprising seven in the Macau peninsula and one in Taipa.
The bureau made the announcement about the public tender for the 20 stalls at Taipa Market in a statement yesterday. Potential bidders are required to submit their tenders by 1 p.m. on May 23.
The current wet-market law took effect on January 1, 2022, 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 by lucky draw.
The bidding process for the 20 stalls at Taipa Market announced yesterday will be the second one since the new law took effect.
The bureau also published details of its tender for the 20 stalls at Taipa Market in an announcement in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
Yesterday’s announcement came after the bureau announced in a press conference last month its upcoming project to revamp Taipa Market as well as a public tender to be launched for the lease and operation of some of its revamped stalls.
According to last month’s announcement, the renovation will reduce the total number of stalls to 52 from the current 66.
The bureau announced last month that the renovation project would commence in April and was scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter this year when the 20 stalls up for tender can start their trial operations.
The bureau said last month that about half of the current 66 stalls are operating while the other half are vacant. The renovation will expand the size of some stalls and set up four dining areas on the first floor because of which the number of stalls will be reduced.
The future 52 stalls will comprise 28 on the ground floor, 23 on the first floor, and one on the rooftop.
Currently, there are no stalls on the rooftop.
After the revamp, according to last month’s announcement, all stalls on the ground floor will continue to be operated by the current stallholders selling fresh and live food as well as traditional groceries, while 19 of the 23 stalls on the first floor will be run by new operators selling light meals or cultural and creative products to be chosen by a public tender. Moreover, the renovation will set up a stall on the rooftop to be used for a café, the operator of which will also be chosen by the tender. Consequently, 20 stalls will be up for tender.
After the renovation, the current vegetable stalls on the first floor will be relocated to the ground floor, while the stalls currently selling fruit on the first floor will remain there.
According to yesterday’s statement and the gazette, the size of the 19 available stalls up for tender on the first floor of Taipa Market will range between 8.1 square metres and 30.9 square metres, with their monthly rent ranging between 486 patacas and 1,854 patacas.
The stall earmarked for the café on the rooftop up for tender is the biggest one, covering 34 square metres, with a monthly rent of 2,040 patacas, according to yesterday’s announcement.
According to yesterday’s gazette, the operators of the stalls up for tender will not be allowed to cook food with gas hobs; they can only use electric hobs.
With the aim of preventing the stalls up for tender from selling food and goods similar to the ones sold by shops in the neighbourhood, they will not be permitted to sell food and goods such as beef offal, food souvenirs and pharmaceutical products, according to yesterday’s gazette.
According to yesterday’s statement and the gazette, the bureau will assess submitted bids based on five main criteria, namely the potential bidders’ proposed operation and marketing plan, their experience in running similar businesses, their proposed operating hours, the level of diversity of their goods, and the availability of various payment methods that shoppers can choose.
This photo taken last month shows taxis driving past Taipa Market. – Photos: Tony Wong
This photo taken last month shows meat stalls and a seafood stall operating in Taipa Market.
