Macao's giant panda pavilion will be completed by the end of this month, missing its completion target in September, the Macao Post Daily reported on Monday.

The newspaper quoted Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau President Tam Vai Man as saying that the authority had tried to complete construction of the custom-made giant panda pavilion last month. However, minor work still required on the site has pushed the opening of the building's core structure back to the end of this month.

Tam, who made the remark yesterday on the sideline of a public function, added that giant panda specialists from Chengdu's panda breeding base in Sichuan Province were slated to arrive in Macao in the middle of this month for a site check to ensure the place is up to standard for the two "national treasures" that are due to arrive in Macao later this year.

The government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) previously announced that it would spend 80 million patacas (10 million U.S. dollars) on the construction of a new home for the panda pair. The 3000-square-meter pavilion is located at Seac Pai Van Park in Coloane island.

A temporary car-park across the road of the park's entrance has been built and is ready for use, Tam told Macao Post Daily, adding that a pedestrian crossing complete with traffic lights would be set up to ensure safe accessibility.

The Chinese central government decided to send a pair of pandas to Macao on Dec. 19 last year, in a move to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Macao Special Administrative Region. The Macao SAR government announced last month the chosen panda pair will be named "Kai Kai" and "Xin Xin", which means happiness in Chinese when the two names are combined.

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