During yesterday’s Legislative Assembly’s (AL) plenary meeting, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, discussed with lawmakers about the mandatory building inspections concerning buildings that are 30 years old or older, as well as a penalty system related to mandatory building inspections.
The meeting was convened to discuss a motion presented by Mak Soi Kun, who proposed that the government should conduct mandatory inspections over old buildings.
Specifically, Mak’s proposal indicated that the government should speed up the legislation work on the rules of penalties and obligations regarding buildings with more than 30 years of history.
Lei Cheng I firstly voiced that Macau indeed has a mandatory building inspection scheme. However, the region does not give out fines as a way of enforcing people to conduct building inspections.
Rosário said that the government is “already conducting mandatory building inspection[s] every five years. We can fine, […] fining is easy. The problem is how to collect the fines. If there are owners committees, it is relatively easier. But if there are none, how do we collect the fines?”
Rosário said that the problem is which party should inspect the buildings, and how to collect the fines.
Ma Chi Seng said that “the government should conduct a wide propaganda in order to improve the civil sense of importance of building’s maintenance.”
Rosário agreed with Ma and said “last year, the government granted MOP20 million, and this year it has granted MOP15 million for building maintenance. […] If the buildings [owners] do not reach an agreement, there is nothing I can do. The initiative is in the hands of the buildings [owners].”
Ho Ion Sang pointed out that some of the government’s housing maintenance funds recorded only one digit’s worth of applications. “Why were there so few applicants?” asked Ho.
“I don’t know why is it not popular, […] I only know that we have money, […] we have to wait for owners to come looking for us,” declared Rosário.
When replying to other lawmakers’ inquiries, Rosário said that “the government has responsibilities, and owners also have many responsibilities as well, therefore the government cannot replace owners in many of their tasks.”
Melinda Chan commented that “it is a good concept, that of the 20 years mandatory building inspection.” Afterwards, she asked “how can the law be implemented, and who will pay for the inspections? Is the government going to pay for 100 percent for the owners?”
“Under the current regulations, the government is [partially] paying for the inspections, which I think is correct. The government is now paying for 30 percent [of the cost],” explained Rosário, adding that the government is not the main responsible party for a building’s maintenance. That is a liability that belongs to the owners’ committee.
Si Ka Lon suggested the government should enhance public awareness regarding building inspections. “Many residents are not aware [that they should inspect their buildings],” noted Si.
Rosário told Si that more awareness among the residents regarding building maintenance has been agreed on by all sectors.
Lam Heong Sang wanted Rosário’s answer on how the government is implementing its current mandatory building inspection policy.
Rosário told Lam that if “a new building is maintained every five years, it does not need to be inspected. […] if you do not cease maintenance, you do not need to inspect the buildings. The problem is that, in Macau, nobody minds [maintains] buildings for many years.”
Angela Leong said that the “the public is disappointed at the government because it does not conduct mandatory building inspection. […] owners do not know how [and] when to conduct the inspections.”
Replying to Leong, Rosário said “there is a mandatory building inspection, but nobody is doing it. Nobody is caring about it.”
The secretary remarked that “the problem lies in how to collect the fines? I think the biggest problem is to assign responsibilities to small owners.”
Zheng Anting, while arguing with Rosário, said “if the government thinks it [collecting of fines] is a big problem, how can residents solve it? It is more complicated [for small owners].”
Au Kam San suggested an idea which was later agreed to by Rosário. He wondered whether the government can add some tax on top of the city’s current property tax, instead of fining the owners.
“Theoretically, it is possible, but needs to be written down in the law,” said Rosário, who then noted that the government’s consideration is in fact the same as Au’s suggestion.
The secretary then raised one question to all of the lawmakers: “Why do we have to fine? Can’t we just discuss and talk to residents?”
The motion’s proposer, Mak Soi Kun, then voiced that the government is conducting mandatory inspections of cars every eight years. Mak considered that similar policies can be applied to buildings.
He also criticized Rosário’s statement that it is difficult for the government to collect fines. “If you are aware that things can fall from a building at any time, and you don’t do something, then there is a problem,” said Mak.
Rosário noted that “if a car has a few problems, I could say the car cannot go out [be used]. But if a building has problems, can I tell the person to not live in said building?”
Fong Chi Keong voiced his opinion at the very end of yesterday’s AL plenary meeting.
“The people do not care about their own properties, […]what are the reasons that the government should pay for it? People in Macau are used to not paying,” said Fong, who also remarked the “Macau government is the best government in the world.”
