Wui San Development Company took action today to seal off the main entrance to a plot of land near Ilha Verde in its possession in a bid to dislodge squatters from the site that is home to a 194-year-old religious structure.
As reported by Macao Daily News, workers hired by the company, accompanied by police and court personnel, descended upon the private site to install a barricade and wire fencing, and put up notices warning against unauthorised entry.
It is believed that between 20 and 30 illegal occupants still live in the historic convent that could date back to as early as 1828. The building, which was built by members of the Society of Jesus and is now in dire condition, had changed hands a number of times before being sold to the firm in 2009 for HKD188.3 million (MOP193.9 million/ USD$24 million).
At a press conference in July in 2019, the company said that it had failed to secure government intervention to evict the squatters, which were ordered by the Court of the First Instance in 2015 to leave the premises.
However, the illegal occupants sought to topple the order by appealing against the verdict, a tactic that was believed to have lengthened the legal proceedings against them.
According to the company’s estimates, as many as 200 had ever held the site as their own.
The Commission Against Corruption issued in June in 2019 a report accusing the then Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau and the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) of failing to act on the rundown building.
Under an existing law governing local historic heritage, IC has the discretion to push for repairs on the building, with the private company to pay for them afterwards.
