Questioned on the 24 and a half years’ concession handed to the Macau Jockey Club (MJC), the Secretary for Economy and Finance acknowledged yesterday that “it is true that the company [MJC] has [had] a continuous loss over the years, but, in a general way of saying, it has also been presenting a form of diversification of our gaming [industry] and adding non-gaming elements.”
“Investors want now to invest more [over MOP1.5 billion] and we need to provide [give them] some time in order to allow them to perform changes and improve a lot on the non-gaming element,” Lionel Leong said.
“That’s the reason we decided to give them the 24 years and 6 month period so they can calculate better their investments and manage to take profits,” Leong said, adding, “All the taxes that at [the] moment are in arrest will be reimbursed to the government.”
The Secretary explained that the investors’ plan is to invest over MOP1.5 billion in three phases, each phase eight years apart. According to Leong, the MJC will be evaluated at these periods, “in order to guarantee that they have such capacity and are doing what was agreed.”
The Macau Horse Racing Company has posted annual losses since 2004, accumulating a deficit exceeding MOP4 billion and debts amounting to MOP1.3 billion.
Earlier this week, after the announcement of the new concession, animal rights activist Albano Martins speculated that “the concession is for [MJC] to redevelop the land – I can only assume – for real estate purposes.” Martins also expressed his opinion that the decision to grant the concession was a “very unwise” one.
“This is land that could be used for housing or schools. Nobody gives that sort of concession for a company that is broke. It is very strange. In terms of [socio-economic] cost-benefit, this decision is a disaster.” RM
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