Coloane Hill Skyscraper | New Macau says there’s procrastination over Urban Planning Law

Scott Chiang

Scott Chiang, president of the New Macau Association (ANM) and a handful of other association members met outside the government headquarters yesterday afternoon in a bid to deliver a letter comprising complaints leveled mostly against the Chief Executive (CE), Chui Sai On.
The English translation of the letter, entitled “Things our CE didn’t know he could do for Coloane,” accused Macau’s highest authority of allegedly misunderstanding his own constitutional powers.
It lamented the delays and “procrastination” of the MSAR government in relation to the installation of the Urban Planning Law, which has been under consideration for almost three years, and implied that the delay was a deliberate ploy to usher in the development project slated for Coloane Hill.
Following on from ANM accusations earlier this week that the government had been quietly but speedily facilitating the approval of construction permits for the proposed 100-meter residential project planned for Estrada do Campo, the organization’s letter stated they were “dumbfounded by our CE when he admitted himself to ‘not knowing what to do’ in legal operations to halt the project.”
“He also confused the aforementioned power of preliminary measure with his administrative discretion,” the statement dated March 10 continued, “again the administration never stops amazing us with its profound understanding of the law.”
Protesters have been demonstrating against the residential building project since 2013, as it is expected to infringe on Macau’s last significant area of greenery.
Last month around 40 people gathered on Coloane’s hiking trails insisting that the government stand by its earlier commitments to the area’s protection as an ecological reserve.
A statement made by the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau last week stressed that the project had not been granted a construction permit and that starting any construction without such a permit would be strictly illegal .
Shortly afterwards the Chief Executive told reporters that he had read many reports on the situation and had noted many opinions, however “without any doubt, the government’s actions are ruled by the law,” and “both the Secretary [for Transport and Public Works] Raimundo do Rosário and other authorities have already expressed [the same sentiments].”
Yesterday ANM further urged the Chief Executive to immediately halt the Coloane Hill project and reiterated their call that “no major urbanizing project [should take place] in Coloane before a legal district planning [operative] is in place.”
There were no representatives from the government to meet Scott Chiang yesterday and the front gate of the government headquarters remained closed, leading some journalists at the scene to wonder whether ANM had informed the government of the meeting and intention to deliver the letter.
“This is the front door: it is never open,” said Chiang. “There is also a back door but you know, in Chinese, that is [a euphemism] for corruption.”
Before leaving the scene, Chiang rolled up the letter and secured it in the gate by placing it through the space between the bars. A police officer approached Chiang and questioned him about the letter but did not remove it or ask the ANM president to do so. Daniel Beitler