We’re taking it back

The Court of Final Appeal has turned down land grantee Chap Mei Artigos de Porcelana e de Aço Inoxidável e Outros Metais (Macau) Lda’ s appeal trying to overturn the government’s decision of taking back its previously-awarded plot of land in Pac On.
Last September, the government announced the invalidity of the company’s land concession on the plot, known as V2. According to the original dispatch of the land grant in 1993, the parcel occupies 2,637 square metres in Pac On reclamation area and was designated for industrial use.
The land grantee disclosed in its appeal that bus operator Transportes Urbanos de Macau (Transmac) and local travel agency AA Turisomo Lda are its sister companies, the verdict, released on Wednesday, shows.
The company’s appeal filed with the top court also includes its objection to a dispatch by the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo Rosario this February calling for the land parcel to be vacated.
It rejected the argument that the government’s intention of recovering the land plot would create irreparable losses to the company, as well as to the benefits of its two sister companies.
The company added that it had promised to its two sister companies that the plot would be for tour-bus parking use, in the consideration that the government would approve the company’s application to change the land use terms of the plot from industrial purposes.
Not speaking for others
‘Despite the appellant admitting it belongs to the same corporation group as the abovementioned companies, the latter’s benefits cannot be maintained by the appellant,’ the court wrote.
‘Regarding the appellant’s promise to the two companies, the Court of Final Appeal does not perceive the promise should be protected by law, despite all these companies belonging to the same corporation group,’ the verdict also reads, indicating that these three companies are still individual units in law.
The top court also stated that the company had no right to use the land plot except for industrial uses, due to its application for changing the use of land plot not being approved by the local authorities.
According to the 1993 dispatch, the plot was to be developed into a three-story industrial factory for manufacturing enamel products and processing other metal elements but was turned into a tour-bus park by the company.