At a recent presentation session at the parliament, lawmakers expressed concerns over the lack of budget and operational costs for the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) East Line.
Officials from the transport and public works sector of the government presented plans on the Line and the New Urban Zone A to lawmakers, who questioned the fact that the officials had not provided a budget for the transport project.
Even President Kou Hoi In of the parliament spoke out against the matter, remarking that the government should be more open and transparent, so that the public can provide more constructive suggestions.
In addition, Kou believes that even if the future checks are more expensive than the announced budgets, with thorough explanation of the matter, the public will eventually understand.
In response to the queries, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário stated that the government did budget for the project, but he feared that announcing the budget would trigger public skepticism.
The senior official used the opportunity to complain about “irrational criticisms” from the public on public construction projects. Citing traces of over-budget in the 51 projects, which exceed MOP100 million in budgeted costs currently in progress, he boasted that a great improvement had been achieved, but no credit had ever been given to his staff of over 3,000 members.
He said further that most public transport systems operate with losses. The government is considering the possibility of introducing commercial elements to the LRT system to compensate for its losses.
Apart from the lack of commercial allotments at the LRT system, which can at least cater to the needs of commuters, lawmakers have repeatedly blamed the government for omitting this since the opening of the LRT.
To support the need for the LRT, Rosário reiterated that the city has reached its limit for road transport.
Another topic that garnered concerns from lawmakers is whether the planned facilities will be able to cater to the needs of the planned 100,000-people population in Zone A.
The parliamentary president worried that Zone A would be more populous than the government has imagined, considering the fact that the LRT East Line will connect four border checkpoints, in addition to the government’s proposal to build a cable car system on the zone.
Nonetheless, only four roads have been built or planned to link the zone with the main peninsula. Kou suggested that the government be a planner instead of a mere problem-fixer.
On the design of the eight future government housing projects allotted to Zone A, Rosário assured the meeting that the eight architects or designers would synchronize the buildings’ design styles. Bidders for the construction projects are required to follow the design schemes.
He then reiterated that about 20,000 out of the city’s 238,000 residential apartments are vacant or not regularly occupied. Based on this, he assumed that not all of the 32,000 residential apartments in the Zone A would be occupied in the future.
The senior official also admitted that he is not confident about the ability of Zone A to help with the Areia Preta district in terms of public facility capacity.
