Land Swap Solution

By
Annie Lao

Rosário: Land debts to be repaid by reclaimed idle land The MSAR Government plans to use reclaimed
idle land to repay land debts in the order
of 88,806 square metres.
Annie Lao
[email protected] The reclaimed idle land of the MSAR Government will be used to repay its land debts although “We don’t have a timetable for which reclaimed land [can] be used to recover the city’s land debts,” Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosário said after attending a meeting of the follow-up committee for land and pubic concession affairs at the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday regarding the issues surrounding the handling of idle land in the city.
The Macau SAR Government acknowledges a total land debt of 88,806 square metres, as revealed by Chief Executive Chui Sai On in the AL last month. It was the first time he had confirmed how much land the government still owes to private companies.
These plots include Seac Pai Van public housing, Ilha Verde Public Housing, Golden Lotus Square, the expansion of the Taipa incineration centre, MGM and Galaxy land, etc. The purpose of these lands was to develop public facilities and the gaming industry.
Mr. Rosário stressed yesterday that the process of reclaiming land from Zone C and D from the Nam Van Development Company Ltd. will still take some time, as legal procedures are currently being undertaken in the courts.
No timetable
Legislator Ho Ion Sang, also the president of the AL follow-up committee for land and pubic concession affairs, said that the reclaimed land of Zone C and D at Nam Van, and the new reclaimed land, may be used to recover the city’s land debts of plots involving Wynn, MGM, and some public housing units. He indicated that government officials had no confirmed timetable for this action.
The legislator also revealed that apart from the land debts of 88,806 square metres there are questions whether another two plots of land were subject to ‘compensation’ or not.
These two plots are leased out by the government for the temporary storage of fuel in Ilha Verde and parking space for casino shuttle buses at the Border Gate.
However, as the 25-year lease of the two plots expires soon the government now needs to consider ways on how to deal with them, he added.