Residents of the reconstructed Sin Fong Garden Building have failed to come to a collective decision regarding legal action against the original developer, vice president of the building’s residents’ association Chan Un Cheong said yesterday.
After nine years of various procedures, debates and arguments, the building’s residents marked the completion of the project with a ceremony yesterday.
As well as the original building’s developer, it is understood that there are other potential defendants, including the developer of the planned building adjacent to Sin Fong, originally named SOHO Residence.
After the collapse of Sin Fong, billboards announcing SOHO Residence were removed from the construction site
Speaking on the sidelines of the ceremony, Chan said that the association has not come to a consensus as to whether legal action should be taken against the potential defendants. It will be at each individual owner’s discretion if they sue the stakeholders.
Former president of the association Wong Man Sang said in response to this that, though he is very happy that the reconstruction is finally complete, he will certainly sue whoever was responsible for the collapse of the original structure.
He said the lawsuit is necessary to obtain financial compensation for what happened, and to get justice for all apartment owners in the building.
Wong revealed that the reconstruction costs amounted to about HKD1,400 per square foot. Most of the owners needed loans to pay for it, although some are wealthy enough to meet the cost up front.
Another owner, surnamed Ho, said that she wouldn’t mull over it too much, and that the most important thing is moving back into the building. There are other owners who worry that they may eventually need to sell their rebuilt apartments, as they lack funds to pay for mortgages taken during reconstruction.
The reconstruction was funded by owners’ savings or mortgages issued by the Bank of China, Macau Branch.
A resident of the original Sin Fong Garden Building told the Times that she had been eagerly anticipating the completion of the reconstruction. “The wait has been so long,” she said, adding that she had become a mother during these nine years.
She believes some owners or residents will not move back into Sin Fong. “After all, it has been nine years. Many of them might have made new friends in their new neighborhood already,” she explained.
Most owners, including the head of the association, hope that ownership registration can be completed as soon as possible to put an end to the anxiety that has plagued them for nine years.
According to Chan, ownership registration will only be conducted after the government – specifically the Housing Bureau and the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau – finishes the site checks and issues a certificate of acceptance.
Representatives from the residents’ association, the Macau Social Enterprise Ltd., the builder, and other organizations were present at the ceremony. Some residents who are anticipating a return to their old-but-renewed residences also attended the event.
