Macau (MNA) – The Court of Final Appeal (TUI) announced on Wednesday that it has ruled against Polytex Corporation Ltd. in the Pearl Horizon project case after the Court of Second Instance (TSI) had rejected a request last October by the company to overturn the government’s decision declaring the expiry of the provisional concession contract of the land.
The plans for the land plot in question, located in the new landfills of Areia Preta, in the northeast of the Macau Pensinsula, consisted of the development of a high-end residence complex named Pearl Horizon.
According to the announcement on the TUI’s official website the decision stated that the new land law clearly states that the government has the right to recover the land parcel given that the company failed to complete the residential project within a term of 25 years – with the expiration date set as December 25, 2015.
In the statement on the decision, the court panel pointed out there is no provision allowing the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) to suspend or extend the interim grant period.
‘An extension of the contract shall be granted only if this is not under the responsibility of the developer and the Chief Executive thinks there was enough evidence in the application,’ the summary of the decision released today stated, with the court stating further that ‘without any sufficient evidence, the Chief Executive cannot approve the extension.’
Polytex is the local arm of Hong Kong-based developer Polytec Asset Holding Ltd., which owns an 80 per cent interest in Pearl Horizon.
On December 18, 2015, the company also filed an appeal to the Administrative Court, requesting it prolong its land concession and land-use terms of the land parcel. The appeal was trejected by the court in February 2016.
In January 2018, the Court of First Appeal (TJB) ruled that the Pearl Horizon developer, Polytec, reimburse more than MOP2.02 million to an individual who had purchased one of its flats.
[Edited by Sheyla Zandonai]
