Civil group demands specific explanation from authorities over land recovery failure

Local civil group “Love Macau Association” expressed its intention to take further action against the government in conjunction with other organizations yesterday unless the authorities provide further explanations of their failed attempts to recover the controversial 16 idle land parcels.
Chao Sao Fung, president of the association, appealed to the legislative assembly in a letter that he had submitted to its representative in the afternoon, stating that the officials “should offer some clarification of the legislature in order to alleviate public concerns over the land recovery.”
“Everyone knows the most critical issue to citizens here in Macau is housing,” said Chao. According to the group’s rough estimations, the 48 idle land plots are attributable to leaseholders, plus the looming reclaimed Zone A could become a home to more than 100,000 pubic housing units, an amount sufficient for the local population who are currently finding private housing unaffordable.
The group’s president slammed the authorities for having withheld the nitty-gritty of the issue, which she suspected might be linked to interest transfer between the government and businessmen. “The information on the 113 idle plots of land, for a couple of years, remained unavailable despite enquires by many lawmakers for information,” said the association’s head.
She also aimed to pressure the legislature’s head Ho Iat Seng into launching a public hearing, where major officials in charge of the land recovery would be summoned to a meeting with the lawmakers at the legislative assembly. However, Ho has previously rejected a similar suggestion made by two pro-democracy policymakers, Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San, citing the reason that they lacked the statutory rights to demand such a thing.
The group did not exclude any possibility of ramping up their efforts to make a public hearing possible, with the help of other parties. “If another public hearing is to be rebuffed, we’d launch some campaigns, such as collecting signatures, or mobilize citizens to voice support for those lawmakers,” she said Staff reporter