Pearl Horizon proposal stirs unhappiness among buyers

Many Pearl Horizon buyers have criticized the government after it announced its intention to build housing units for temporary lodging of residents affected by urban renovation works taking place in old neighborhoods across the city.

In a TDM radio program yesterday, a female buyer, surnamed Hoi, said that she paid between 7,000 and 8,000 patacas per square foot for a Pearl Horizon project.

She then said that using this money to purchase a public house from the government is equivalent to “throw[ing] the money into the sea,” criticizing the government for not caring about buyers.

The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, noted on Wednesday that the government would grant the possibility of acquisition of only one unit per Pearl Horizon buyer in the new development to be built by the government.

Another buyer, surnamed Lai, cited the government by saying that despite the fact that “Pearl Horizon does not exist anymore,” buyers still have to pay for the loan.  Lai said that the government made mistakes in this case. He deems the government’s proposal “unreasonable.”

A third buyer, surnamed Ng, described the actions of the government as equivalent to “robbing the land.”

She worries that the government’s housing units will have a low value and will also represent an uncertainty in terms of re-sale.

However, one resident, surnamed Chu, does not want buyers to be granted the rights to buy the new housing units.

“When [they] pre-bought the house, they should have expected the possibility that the house project would not be finished. I think it’s unreasonable to use Macau people’s public money to compensate [buyers] to buy public houses. If the government compensates buyers, can all buyers of previous unfinished housing projects do the same?” Chu asked. JZ