CCAC to launch probe into 16 idle land parcels

Chief Executive Chui Sai On has requested the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) carry out a comprehensive investigation into the processes leading to the exclusion of 16 idle land plots from the government’s recovery list.
CCAC revealed in a statement yesterday that it will be launching a probe into “the incident concerning the 16 plots of leased land.”
“If any illegal acts or disciplinary offences are identified during the investigation, the CCAC will deal with them according to the law,” it said.
Macau’s anti-graft agency added that it will also review whether or not administrative procedures used during the process to recover these land lots were legal and rational. CCAC will then provide further recommendations for improvements.
Upon completing its investigation, the CCAC said that it will notify the Chief Executive of its findings and make an announcement to the general public within a reasonable timeframe.
Five of these land parcels –
covering a total of 162,948 square meters – had been set aside for hotel projects. These included a project to build a theme park in Cotai, a project planned by Angela Leong and Chan Chak Mo, and an area to build facilities for Studio City.
Seven other plots were intended to be used for building residential, commercial and office buildings, including areas around the Macau Jockey Club. Four were intended for industrial purposes.  Among these was a section of land for logistics facilities in the Pac On area, and a section reserved for a yacht marina in Cotai.
On Tuesday, the government disclosed information on the 16 idle land lots that had been excluded from the recovery list. The parcels cover a size of nearly 370,000 square meters in total.
The Chief Executive clarified last week that the exclusion of the plots from the government’s recovery list by the last administration was in line with legal and administrative procedures, suggesting that the land remained unused not because of the leaseholders but because of the government.
According to Mr Chui, development within the 16 plots was hampered by either changes in the location’s urban planning schemes, or in the plot’s intended use, among other reasons.
This week, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, informed reporters that 16 of the 48 idle plots that the government was hoping to recover had failed to be legally recognized as ‘idle land.’
Lawmaker Ho Ion Sang, head of the Legislative Assembly’s Follow-up Committee on Land and Public Concession Affairs, said that the government eventually realized that the delay in development or lack of use of the idle plots was not attributed to leaseholders.
Instead, he drew on other reasons, explaining: “The government couldn’t provide the drawing of urban planning conditions [for the area], delay in responding to the leaseholder’s project proposal, or [the leaseholder] didn’t thoroughly implement administrative formalities for the building project.” CP