At a briefing last Friday, government officials promised to keep the proposed Hac Sa youth camp’s costs in check. Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong committed to spending no more than 1.4 billion patacas on what has become a controversial development project, and said efforts would be made to come in lower, the Macau Post Daily reports.
When the government made details of the adventure camp public on 18 July, there was outrage over the proposed 1.6 billion patacas price tag. This was more than five times the 299 million patacas that had initially been suggested in 2020, when the government first announced its intention to develop idle land near Hac Sa Beach into a recreation area.
A week later, Cheong fronted a press conference to mollify concerns – saying the project would, in fact, cost more like 1.4 billion patacas. He explained that the price hike was due to the project’s scope increasing significantly. The 10 hectares of land is now set to host a large-scale youth adventure camp, not a simple recreation zone.
[See more: Kun Iam Goddess statue scrapped amidst criticism]
Cheong’s latest remarks came at a presentation session where he and several Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) officials briefed lawmakers about the youth camp, held at the Legislative Assembly.
He told lawmakers the youth camp – expected to be partly operational in 2025 – would be a place where young people could improve their fitness through various outdoors activities, and engage in team building activities. He reiterated that, in his view, the camp was not being built to luxury standards.
In response to claims the camp will destroy one of the city’s valuable green spaces, Cheong said that the area consisted of illegally occupied plots of land and construction waste up until 2018 (when the plots were repossessed by the government). He also noted that the camp would be 70 percent green space.
At last Friday’s session, IAM officials said the government aims to finalise the camp’s design by the end of this year. The final construction budget would be announced when the public tenders were in (a date has not yet been set).
Plans to build a 28-metre-high Kun Iam statue as part of the new youth camp were canned last month in response to public outcry over its 42 million patacas price tag. Excavation was already underway when the government called off the project.
