Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Guilherme Ung Vai Meng said Tuesday on the sidelines of a regular Cultural Heritage Council meeting that the government had already made up its mind to build the new central library at the Old Courthouse.
Ung also said the bidding process for the library’s detailed design plan would start later this year.
Ung said that “We have decided to build [the new central library] on the site where the Old Courthouse is standing… We do not have any more time to waste. [The government] hopes to finish building this meaningful facility as soon as possible.”
Insisting that the government would not change the location as it would take a long time to choose a new one, Ung also said the Old Court-house was the most suitable place as it is located in the Central district, add-ing that it would be convenient for residents to visit the library there.
According to Ung, the bureau will hold an exhibition at the Old Courthouse from next month to December to show residents the plans, adding that the project would get off the ground once a consensus in civil society has been reached.
Ung also said he expected the new central library to be operational in 2022.
Ung also said the west wing of the former Judiciary Police (PJ) building would be demolished after the exhibition ends, while the east wing would be kept for its archi-tectural features. Moreover, a mini-museum about the Old Courthouse and the Judiciary Police will be built in the east wing, according to Ung.
The meeting was chaired by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng. Ung attended at the council’s vice-president.
The council was set up as a consultative body following the enactment of the Cultural Heritage Protection Law in March 2014.
(Macau News/ The Macau Post Daily)
