The Office of the Government Spokesperson and public departments jointly hold a press briefing to give the public more information about the Government’s efforts regarding control flooding at the Inner Harbour.
The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, is to discuss with leaders of Guangdong Province, during a visit there soon, technical details for a cross-boundary flood control system in a bid to solve the flooding issue concerning Macao’s Inner Harbour.
The announcement of the visit follows flood control advice given by the State Council regarding Government proposal on control flooding at the Inner Harbour.
The Government Spokesperson, Mr Chan Chi Ping, disclosed today – during a press conference – news of the Chief Executive’s upcoming visit to Guangdong. The press briefing by the Office of the Government Spokesperson and public departments was in order to give the public more information about the Government’s efforts regarding control flooding at the Inner Harbour.
The Government received yesterday a reply from the State Council and competent ministries and departments of the Central Government, expressing their general support for a Government proposal – submitted to the State Council in March 2017– regarding cross-boundary effort to solve the flooding issue at the Inner Harbour.
The response – from the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Transport, the State Oceanic Administration and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council – suggested the Government conduct further research on a number of topics, including: detailed plan for building a flood control system covering Macao and nearby cities; its impact on ocean ecology; sand accretion; maritime planning; and an evaluation of the impact of any potential oceanic disasters.
Further analyses were required to prove whether building either a cross-boundary flood control system or a further embankment at the Inner Harbour would be effective, said the reply via the State Council.
The competent ministries and departments of the Central Government also suggested listening to opinion from the Guangdong Provincial Government, via the mechanism of the Guangdong-Macao Co-operation Joint Conference.
Macao’s Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau said, during today’s press briefing, that the Government had been closely studying the flooding issue for years and would strive for a solution that best fitted Macao’s situation. The Government did not rule out the possibility of simultaneously building a cross-boundary flood control system and a further embankment at the Inner Harbour.
The Government had completed a project in 2015 to strengthen in the short term the ability to control flooding at the Inner Harbour. However, this project had been proven not fully effective in coping with the scale of flooding brought by Typhoon Hato. In future, the Government would step up efforts to build a tidal barrier at the Inner Harbour, while increasing the height of the existing embankment system across the city, if conditions allowed such a course of action.
The Government proposal submitted to the State Council contained findings from two reports commissioned by the Government and conducted since 2015 by the Pearl River Hydraulic Research Institute. One of the reports – concerning the possibility of building a tidal barrier at Wanzai in Zhuhai Prefecture – was completed in July 2016. The other – relating to building an overall flood control system for the tidal basin covering Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macao – was completed in March 2017.
During today’s press briefing, Mr Chan stressed the Government had been working diligently to solve flooding problems at the Inner Harbour, adding that the Chief Executive had led a delegation to Beijing in 2013 to explore with competent ministries and departments of the Central Government proposals to address the issue.
A cross-departmental task group was formed in 2011 on the control of flooding at the Inner Harbour, comprising the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau; the Transportation Infrastructure Office; the Transport Bureau; the Cartography and Cadastre Bureau; the Environmental Protection Bureau; and the Marine and Water Bureau.