Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On said Wednesday that the Macau and Guangdong governments were in the last stages of finalising their joint proposal to build a new border checkpoint, complete with a 450-metre-long covered bridge over the Duck Channel along the Macau-Zhuhai border.
Chui made the remarks to reporters upon return from a five-day working trip to Beijing and Sichuan.
Chui attended the 1st China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services during the trip. In Sichuan, Chui and his predecessor Edmund Ho Hau Wah visited construction projects, which the local government paid for after the province’s earthquake of May 12, 2008.
According to The Macau Post Daily today Chui said that both the local and Guangdong governments have been working hard to move forward with the 24-hour border crossing plan.
“First we hope to extend the border crossing hours before eventually extending them to 24 hours.
Regarding the new access [border checkpoint] between Guangdong and Macau, we are in the final stages of preparing the proposal,” Chui said, adding, “I and my colleagues including Secretary [for Transport and Public Works] Lau [Si Io] will fly to Beijing to present the proposal to the relevant authorities in Beijing after it has been submitted to the central government. We hope the central government will approve it.”
The government announced previously that it planned to implement a 24-hour immigration service at the new Duck Channel checkpoint.
Currently, the Barrier Gate remains closed between midnight and 7 a.m.(macaunews)
