New wholesale market ready early 2017

It is expected that the city’s new wholesale market will be completed during the first quarter of next year, said the Chief of the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI), Chau Vai Man, in response to legislator Chan Meng Kam’s written enquiry. The legislator suggested in his interpellation that the construction of the new market would be delayed as work on its foundations was still underway, as stated in the recent Policy Address. He also queried whether the current wholesale market could be relocated to the new one on schedule. The GDI head said earlier this month that the whole construction of the new wholesale market would be completed during the first three months of 2017 as planned. According to the official, construction is now in the final stage of basement excavation, whilst local authorities would start construction of the market buildings soon. “The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) will start arranging the relocation of the current wholesale market as well as the related management procedures in order to prepare the site [of the current wholesale market] for the next phase of infrastructure,” the Office chief wrote. In fact, the completion of the new wholesale market will affect the infrastructure of the new passageway between Macau and Guangdong, as the cross-border link is to include the site of the current wholesale market. IACM’s previous president, Alex Wong Iao Lek, told reporters last October that the new wholesale market may become operational this year. The MOP860 million project, contracted to Mainland company Guangdong Nam Yue Group Co. Ltdn, was first expected to be ready in 2015 then 2016. No works started for Macau‑Guangdong link On the other hand, Mr. Chau claimed in his reply to the legislator that neither the Special Administrative Region nor the Mainland authority has started any construction works for the new passageway between the city and the Guangdong Province. “The construction works for the infrastructure will be built simultaneously by Macau and Guangdong. The whole project will involve the co-ordination of authorities of the two cities, whilst required managing techniques will be complicated… The working groups of the two governments are still exchanging opinions on the designs of the project,’ the GDI head indicated. He added that the two governments will strive to complete the project in 2019, while the MSAR Government would carefully supervise the construction of the cross-border project. “If there is any delay in construction, the government can hold the contractor accountable in accordance with our contracts,’ the official noted.