Horta da Mitra Market and the surrounding hawker area have been temporarily closed in March and August 2023 respectively to carry out reorganisation works and the works were completed as scheduled at the end of last year. To arrange for tenants of the market to relocate back to the market and resume business in an orderly manner, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) held a meeting with the relevant business operators at the end of last year for coordinating the arrangements for business resumption and explaining in detail the facilities of the stalls, safe power use and other points to note after optimisation. The 13 original stall tenants of the market have recently relocated back to the market and agreed to resume business on 9 January.

Layout separating dry and wet zones facilitates establishment of comfortable and neat image of the market

Horta da Mitra Market was built in 1939. The sewerage network, heat dissipation and ventilation, lighting and other facilities in the market have become dilapidated. Despite multiple repairs by IAM, the dilapidation issue had not been resolved. It had become necessary to carry out comprehensive reorganisation works of the market and optimisation of the equipment and facilities to improve the business environment of the market.

The reorganisation plan involved preservation of the architectural appearance of Horta da Mitra Market, additional installation of air-conditioning and ventilation systems, improvement of the lighting system, adjustment of the location of public toilets and the ratio of male and female toilet cubicles, upgrade of the sewerage equipment of the market and addition of barrier-free facilities. After the adjustment of the layout of the market stalls, there are currently 18 stalls. 13 of these stalls were allocated to the original market stall tenants, including 7 meat stalls, 4 fish stalls, 1 chilled and frozen meat stall and 1 vegetable stall. The 5 remaining stalls were put out for public tender in October 2023. In addition, the different zones have been reorganised to suit the workflow of the stall vendors and the habits of consumers. The vending zone and the work zone are specially equipped with independent entrances and exits for separation between the flow of consumers shopping in the market and that of the stall vendors’ transportation of goods, so as to achieve the separation of the dry and wet zones. In coordination with the air-conditioning and ventilation systems and the daily management of the market, the wet and slippery environment of the traditional market has been improved to establish a comfortable and neat image of the market, so as to provide the public with pleasant shopping experiences.

Surrounding hawkers have resumed business

In addition, IAM has replaced the insulation panels, the retractable awnings, the backboards and the separation wire mesh in the hawker area during the overall optimisation works. Improvement of the drainage facilities, renovation of the structural supports, etc. were also carried out at the same time. Currently, the 14 hawker stalls which originally operated at the mentioned location have all relocated back and resumed business.