President of the Macau Holy House of Mercy (Santa Casa da Misericordia), António José de Freitas, has criticized the government for its attempt to move the First Public Notary Office out of the non-profit organization’s property in Senado Square, according to a report published in local Chinese-language newspaper Macao Daily last Friday. Freitas claimed the rental price the government is being charged is relatively cheap or at least a fair market price, while the government’s future landlord for the Northern District’s new rental property has made it clear that the rental contract will be no longer than a year, making the move and necessary renovations a wasteful act. He also noted that losing the rental contract from the government would be a blow for the charitable organization’s finances – which provides other services to the society including elderly homes and nurseries. The government disclosed in June that the First Public Notary Office would be moved to the Northern District Integrated Services Centre Building by the end of this year, after the Legal Affairs Bureau said that current monthly rental, which is MOP1.2 million (US$150,140) for the First Public Notary Office, was too high and that the lease would expire at the end of this year. Moving out Mr. António José de Freitas told the publication that he received a letter from the director of the Legal Affairs Bureau on July 20 stating that the government wouldn’t renew its rental contract, which runs out on December 31 this year. Mr. António José de Freitas points out that the proposed new venue at the Northern District is also private property and the future landlord has indicated that the contract would only last until the end of next year, meaning the government would have to move again and spend more on relocation and renovation works. He said that the First Public Notary Office is the only space the Holy House of Mercy has rented to the government. He added that the government has been renting it since 1963. In the beginning, rent was priced at MOP300 per month, as a “charitable favour”. Eight years later, the rent was increased to MOP450 per month. In 1989, the rent was “drastically increased” to MOP10,000 and after the handover in 1999 the rent hit MOP50,000 per month. After two subsequent increases the rent stood at MOP100,000 in 2006, and was still considered too cheap. In 2009, the organization made a six-year contract with the government with MOP200,000 as the starting rent coupled with a 10 per cent increase every two years. In 2014 the rent was further raised to MOP1.2 million, in a contract signed for three years, with the first two years being ‘unchangeable’. Reasonable rent The president of the Holy House of Mercy further argued that as the First Public Notary Office is around 500 square metres, with rent at MOP1.2 million, the monthly rent per square metre is around MOP2,400, which he claims to be a fair market price. He added that the ‘Popular Pharmacy’ (Farmacia Popular) who rents the shop next door had its rent increased at around the same time from MOP100,000 to MOP800,000. The shop is around 350 square meters, equalling monthly rent per square meter at around MOP2,300. A recent release by the Commission of Audit refers to one property rented by the government, for which its monthly rental has increased from MOP200 per square meter to MOP1,000 square metre, and some suspected this was referring to the Holy House of Mercy. Mr. António José de Freitas indicated that he was: “not sure if it’s the Commission of Audit’s mistake or if the Legal Affairs Bureau gave the wrong information, but the data was all wrong”, as the monthly rent is MOP2,400 per square metre. The Commission of Audit issued a report last week, saying that 68 public services were renting private properties, costing the government MOP4 billion in rent and MOP1.03 billion in renovation from 2004 to 2014. The Commission slammed the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) for its lack of a comprehensive plan for the construction of buildings for public service departments, saying it could put government finances at risk. Utilization In regards to the Commission of Audit’s criticism, legislator Ella Lei Cheng I opined that the government lacks ideas for how to utilize the spaces it has and has been forced to accept skyrocketing rental prices. She suggests that the government should review the use of its current office buildings and other facilities, make the best use of vacant properties, and quicken the pace of building government facilities. “The most important thing is that we always say Macau has a scarcity of land and there is no room for anything. As a matter of fact, there are plots of land that were planned for the government to build their offices and facilities on, such as the reclaimed land Zone B that we’ve been talking about for years,” said Ella Lei in an interview with local public broadcaster TDM Chinese Radio aired last Friday. “If the government sits still and does nothing, the problem is not going to be solved, for sure.” The legislator indicated that even when renting properties, the government could have negotiated for better deals including signing contracts for longer terms with cheaper prices, as landlords also prefer stable tenants. In addition, she said improving and promoting e-administration for certain services would also help with economizing on resources.
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