Law approved, price to pay to Zhuhai no longer an issue

The law that will regulate the use of the land granted to Macau by a decision of the Permanent Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 29 last year has been approved after its final reading yesterday afternoon at the Legislative Assembly.

The final voting on the law, which commences the day after its publication, occurred without any major issues being raised by lawmakers who approved the bill unanimously.

Unlike the first reading, this time no lawmakers expressed concerns or raised any questions related to the price of the exclusive lease of the land for the construction of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) East Line in its connection to the Border Gate area.

During the first reading, several lawmakers queried the price, and the Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong, failed to provide the rent figure.

At the time, when questioned on the matter, Cheong said only, “in future, we will have an agreement between the two sides [Zhuhai and Macau]. For the time being, we don’t know the price for certain.”

There is also uncertainty about the actual area that is being rented by the Zhuhai authorities to Macau, with Cheong continuing to say yesterday, like in early April, that the final size and markings will be defined by the central government authorities and published.

“After the land is formally delivered to Macau Special Administrative Region, we will be able to see all these details,” he said in response to an enquiry on the matter by lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho, adding that there is no immediate relation between the law being approved and the delivery of the land.

Pereira Coutinho has questioned the rush from the government to present a bill that does not even have concrete data on the land parcel and queried why it cannot wait until the details are all finalized.

Cheong explained that the government wants to have the law ready and in force so that, on the date of land transfer, “we can move forward immediately.”

Other lawmakers, including Leong Sun Iok and Ron Lam, also called on Cheong to use the land well and improve it aesthetically since the LRT will only use the underground areas. Cheong noted that, according to the rules, “there isn’t much that Macau can do at the surface at all.”

Questioned also by Lam on the extension of the East Line to Qingmao Port, the Secretary refused to provide an answer, stating that it was irrelevant.