AL Plenary | Housing problems continue to top lawmakers’ agenda

Angela Leong

The topic of housing was once again the main issue addressed in the plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday. The plenary gathered to debate several spoken enquiries presented lawmakers.
Angela Leong questioned the government about the project launched a couple of years back, which aimed to revitalize industrial buildings that are vacant or partially deactivated.
According to the lawmaker, “the project was a complete failure with only 13 requests, of which only two were approved.”
Leong said that the program had not been well-received because of law restrictions which request that 100 percent of the owners be in agreement if a building’s purpose is to be changed from a commercial unit to another type, such as residential.
The lawmaker urged the government to explain the underachievement of the program and to clarify the government’s plans to correct that failure.
Replying to the query, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário acknowledged the failure of the program and said “the government assumed that program was not gathering enough interest from the population and from building owners,” justifying the abandonment of its policy after some three years of implementation.
On the government stand, the director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Li Canfeng completed the explanation, adding: “Most of the requests received were for the use of the ground floor areas only, in order to transform them in shops. The remainder of the buildings would be unchanged [as per the requests].”
The government official also explained that, only in very few cases, “were the necessary conditions [satisfied] in order to change the purpose of the units.”
“I think the government should take note of what is happening in Hong Kong, where the law states that only 80 percent [of the owners] are needed [to alter the purpose of a building],” added Angela Leong.

Li Canfeng (left) and Raimundo do Rosário

Secretary Rosário then recalled that it is the the civil code which states that a full consensus is required to change the purpose of a building. “We are not able to change that,” he said.
”If you ask me whether we [the government] are planning another program for the same purpose, I would say no, we are not,” said the secretary.
Ella Lei questioned if public buildings construction works are carried out correctly. The lawmaker urged the government to request an extension of the warranty period from construction firms from five to 10 years.
“We place great importance on the quality of public construction work. Aside from our inspection we have been hiring independent companies to perform additional inspections,” assured Secretary Raimundo do Rosário.
The secretary also justified the government’s decision to only solicit opinions from construction experts and not also from the public as due to the fact that “this is a very technical [area].”
The Director of DSSOPT said: “We are finalizing the general regulation [in a new document]. In this document the Engineers will have to assume responsibility over construction work,” adding that “[another] document with instructions for owners” is also in progress.
“We are going to propose 10 years as a general construction warranty [period] and five years for other work and renovations,” he concluded.
Raimundo do Rosário agreed that the majority of problems stemming from a “lack of quality” are the contractors’ responsibility and recalled that the department he heads is “doing the best we can with only 80 people,” complaining of limited human resources.

what they said

Lau Veng Seng  “We are currently promoting the development of creative industries and e-commerce, among others. But seems like the laws aren’t suitable for supporting that purpose. Maybe you can use the Urban Renewal Council to define a group of industries that are suitable [to be changed from commercial to other uses].”

Zheng Anting  “This programme failed! But what is the government thinking to do next? We can’t just abandon the buildings. We have limited resources and space. We need to take action because these [industrial] buildings either need to be renewed or be demolished.”

Pereira Coutinho  “The quality is bad but the inspections seem to fail to detect these problems. It seems as though the inspectors cannot perform their task.”

Au Kam San  “There are only two solutions [regarding the taxis]: strengthen inspections and punishment of infringements; or ease on the service costs. To use undercover officers doesn’t seem  like a good idea. Macau is so small that in less than a week all the officers would be exposed and known.”