Advisers urge expediting work on museum

Li Hongming, a political adviser, speaks at a panel discussion yesterday. Sun Yuchen

Construction of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum was heatedly discussed during a panel discussion of the Fifth Session of the Sixth Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which opened yesterday.

Political advisers put forward a few proposals and called for accelerating the construction of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum, which is a key project of the city’s 13th Five-Year Plan and was listed as the key work of the Shenzhen Municipal Government in 2017 and 2018.

However, while the construction of the new science and technology museum has been progressing according to the plans and procedures, the project is now confronting some problems. In particular, the land contract has yet to be signed, which is affecting the follow-up on the project.

Wu Hanqu, one of the committee members, suggested that the land planning authority deal with the project’s land transfer contract formalities as soon as possible, so that the construction of the museum can be carried out according to the original plan.

“Shenzhen is a city known for technology. We really want the new science and technology museum to be built sooner than later and we should delay no more,” said Wu.

Wu said Shenzhen is in urgent need of an international first-class science and technology museum, which will better disseminate and popularize scientific knowledge and display Shenzhen’s unique characteristics forged through decades of development.

Sun Nan, another committee member who is keen on seeing progress on the museum, said the current land use of the museum project is far from optimistic.

According to Sun, the museum’s construction site has accumulated a large amount of waste soil and has become a dumping site for construction sites in the vicinity.

“The disposal of the waste soil will take a lot of manpower, materials, financial resources and time, which adds new difficulties to the construction of the museum project,” said Sun.

The construction of the new science and technology museum covers 105,000 square meters with an investment of 2.1 billion yuan (US$310 million). It has been confirmed that the museum, with a land area totaling 119,834.86 square meters, will be located in Shajing Subdistrict, Bao’an District.

The construction work on the project was officially transferred to the city’s public works bureau Aug. 3, 2018.

Nearly 500 political advisers from all walks of life in Shenzhen are attending the four-day meeting until Saturday to contribute their advice for the city’s development and various social issues.