Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng guaranteed yesterday that the long list of public works presented during the Policy Address, which constitute a significant part of the government’s plans to revitalize the post-pandemic economy, will all start this year.
Ho’s promise was made at the Legislative Assembly (AL) where he returned for a question and answer session with the legislators on the Policy Address report.
Topping the concerns of lawmakers were matters such as public housing, land use, urban renewal and the links to existing and planned public transportation projects.
The Chief Executive informed the lawmakers that he has the intention to advance on all the topics presented.
“While most people have been home sheltering from the epidemic, the government has not stopped. We have been working all this time and meeting almost daily with all the [policy] secretaries to find a solution and move forward with some preparatory works.”
The Chief Executive was questioned on how the government plans to solve the housing problem of the middle-class population, who cannot afford to buy a house on the private market but also do not meet the requirements to apply for public housing.
“Of course, we have prioritized the lower [income] class [in the past],” said Ho, but added that, according to the plan from the previous government, which he will continue, “we will build 28,000 housing units on Zone A of the new landfills and the foundation works will start from next year.” This will go some way to solving this issue, he said.
The Chief Executive also revealed yesterday that the current administration does not want to rush to start building on Zone A of the new landfills without the final form of the master plan for the area.
“We need to have the master plan for Zone A concluded and approved first,” he said. “What we have at the moment are detailed plans for specific projects, […] but I can guarantee that we will not reduce the number of the 28,000 housing units.”
As he further explained, the plan sets the direction and orientation for the use of the entire area. Besides stipulating the land’s residential purposes, the master plan will also include roads, green areas, leisure areas, and social facilities.
“Only after the start of the foundation works will we move into this second phase. In Seac Pai Van we did not do this and we realized that we needed it. We need this master plan. We do not want another Seac Pai Van. The construction is easy; what is difficult is the conception.”
Ho said that while he does not have yet a schedule for all the phases of the project, he assured that the government will see it completed during his mandate.
The Chief Executive also acknowledged that another of the issues influencing the preparatory works on public housing projects is Macau’s ageing population.
According to Ho, the government expectation is that the ageing population phenomenon will reverse in the mid-term.
“The problem we have at the moment is mostly regarding people we received from abroad between the 1970s and 1980s,” said Ho, referring to a wave of adult immigrants from the mainland at that time.
“The number of the elderly population is [inflated] at present,” he explained. “In 10 years, we expect that the current problem that we have [of a lack of resources] will reduce.”
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