‘People losing trust in the government,’ say Ung, Ho

Ho Ion Sang

Recent events such as the consequences of Land Law enforcement and street protests aiming to force the government to stop projects approved without public consultation have ignited criticism against both former and current lawmakers.

During interviews with Jornal Tribuna de Macau (JTM) and TDM Radio, Ung Choi Kun and Ho Ion Sang claimed that people are losing confidence in the government headed by Chui Sai On.

Interviewed by JTM, Ung, a former lawmaker until 2013 and the current president of the Association of Property Agents and Realty Developers of Macau, reaffirmed his criticism of the current Land Law, claiming that it was approved “in a rush” five years ago. “At that time, lawmakers did wrong by trusting [the government when they] granted that cases from the past would not come out harmed [regarding land concession expiration dates].” Ung noted that it is the government’s duty to oversee the inspection and supervision of properties in order to combat “the many deceiving marketing strategies” used by many real estate promoters; strategies that, in his opinion, are affecting the development of the sector.

Ung said that besides housing being a basic need for everyone, “the construction of housing depends [ultimately] on … land [availability],” noting that for the past over 18 years since the handover “there was only one land auction.” This situation has led to people questioning how Macau is building so many houses, and where the land plots are coming from.  Some think that there is some hidden scheme to grant land plots to developers, but in reality this is not true, as “most housing projects being built at the moment are being done on land plots granted prior to 1999.”
Ung noted that in addition to the lack of land and the exponential growth of Macau’s population, “the lack of transparency has led to a ridiculous increase in house prices.” He noted that current laws on the matter “are lagging behind, failing to keep pace with market needs. And, when laws are behind schedule, some market behavior such as speculation, misleading marketing strategies, and financial leverage, among others, cannot be regulated,” he said, noting that, once again, it is the government’s inaction that is leading to this situation, “although the government says that is not pleased with this [situation].”

Ung Choi Kun

In a similar vein, Ho spoke to TDM Radio on Monday and remarked on the latest controversy, which resulted in the suspension of the crematorium project at Sa Kong Cemetery in Taipa and a consequent public demonstration held on Sunday, which called on the government to be more transparent in its processes and consult with the public before agreeing to  measures that will directly affect residents’ lives.

Ho said that the source of the controversy was “the lack of transparency on the administrative procedures,” noting, “the disclosure of information [by the government] was like squeezing toothpaste, and even so the access to information was only partially granted, which resulted in the residents’ loss of confidence in the government.”
Ho also noted that the government’s strategy to abandon or suspend projects afterwards without any prior discussion has been seen on other occasions. Some examples Ho gave were the Light Rail Transit system, regarding the layout in the peninsula that has been “repeatedly changed and it is not yet known when it will be done,” and the discussion on the location of the Infectious Diseases Building, which will be built in the surrounds of the Conde de São Januário hospital, and has also raised many questions and faced several delays and changes on the project due to social protests.

In Ho’s opinion, aside from these well-known examples, what is more concerning is that “the government apparently has not taken any lessons away from previous cases, nor has it learned anything from them,” continuing and insisting on presenting “incomplete policies, unsatisfactory information disclosure and awareness raising [on the measures that are planning to be taken].” This situation has created a “society-wide distrust regarding the impartiality [of such decisions] and evidence-base of such policies, as well raising doubt over the capacity of the government [to deal with such situations].” RM