Macau (MNA) – The lots 7 and 8 in Cotai can be a kind of plan B if there will be new gambling operators waiting for 2020, despite no immediate plans to do so, João Paulo Meneses wrote in Macau Business November issue.
The information indicates ‘it seems clear that the Government will play this trump with current or future gaming operators, much more because we are talking about the one that can be considered as the most valuable land in Macau.’
The two lots, which are always mentioned together (7&8), can be separated. They are located close to Studio City, Cotai Central, and other parcel connected to Shun Tak, located also not far from the land intended to accommodate a theme park project led by SJM’s executive director, Angela Leong.
It remains unclear what happened in 2010 to keep this two lots without use until now. Former Secretary for Economy and Finance, Francis Tam Pak Yuen, explained in December 2010 that Sands China’s application for Cotai parcels 7 and 8 was submitted after the freeze on gaming land was announced back in 2008.
One version of the facts says the lots were frozen by the need to cool the gaming boom, while another says that Wynn Macau, MGM Macau and, above all, SJM Holdings pressured to the interruption of the process, Macau Business reveals.
Sources consulted by Macau Business say ‘the Macau [SAR] Government may be keeping parcels 7 and 8 of Cotai for any eventuality resulting from the granting of a further gaming license.’
In regard to the matter, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) was quoted as saying that ‘at the moment there is no project of exploitation nor any request on the respective land.’
