The Sports Bureau (ID) announced in a statement yesterday that the pedaloes (also known as pedal boats) at Anim’Arte Nam Van will be back in action tomorrow, after the closure of the service since early this year when the COVID-19 epidemic emerged.
The statement pointed out that according to the annual schedule, the pedalo service runs daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer – from June 1 to September 30, while the facility closes at 6 p.m. on the remaining days of the year.
The Nam Van Lake pedaloes started operating in 2016.
According to the bureau’s website, a fee of 20 patacas is charged for using a two-seat pedalo on the lake for 30 minutes, while a fee of 40 patacas is charged for a four-seat pedalo. Children aged under five are not allowed on board the boats, and those aged between 5 and 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
Various kinds of public sports facilities have gradually reopened since early March after their respective COVID-19 epidemic-induced closures. The city’s nine public swimming pools reopened early last month.
Most of the city’s public sports facilities are operated by the Sports Bureau, while the open-air public basketball courts and mini football fields scattered across the city are managed by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM).
More swimmers allowed at swimming pools
Meanwhile, yesterday’s statement also announced that the Sports Bureau will allow from today more swimmers to use its swimming pools at the same time “with the aim of enabling more residents to exercise”.
Since the reopening of the city’s nine public swimming pools early last month, only a smaller number of swimmers than normal had been allowed to enter the swimming pools, as part of the bureau’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures carried out there.
According to yesterday’s statement, now 60 percent more swimmers are allowed to use each of the public swimming pools at the same time. For instance, only 145 swimmers had been allowed to enter the Taipa Central Park Swimming Pool since its reopening on June 6, with the maximum allowed number of swimmers increasing to 230 from today, according to the statement.
Yesterday’s statement also pointed out that a string of COVID-19 prevention and control measures have been carried out at the various public sports facilities since their respective reopenings, such as residents having to wear a facemask when entering the facilities, undergo a temperature check and show their digital Macau Health Code.
The then secretary for social affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam Chon Weng (front, left), and Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun, ride an Anim’Arte Nam Van pedalo on Nam Van Lake when the facility opened on June 3, 2016. Photo: GCS
