Quality of public housing and guarantees to buyers and tenants questioned

The quality of construction in public housing developments was brought into question at yesterday’s plenary session at the Legislative Assembly (AL).
Four lawmakers presented spoken inquiries on the topic before the agenda, questioning both the quality of construction and the guarantees to the buyers and tenants of the housing developments. The questions come in the wake of another series of incidents involving the falling of tiles from the interior common areas of both the Edifício do Lago and Ip Heng Building in Seac Pai Van came to light.
According to lawmakers Ho Ion Sang, Lei Chan U, Ella Lei, and Zheng Anting, these problems are not new and reveal both a poor standard construction for the public works and authorities’ inability to find a suitable solution for repairing damaged structures.
According to the lawmakers, the problem is due to the “bad choice of materials and lack of quality control [in construction].” They pointed to the fact that the tiles used on the walls are too big and heavy, and are not fit to be used as a wall lining, as they were originally meant to be floor tiles, noting that the issues originate from the design plan.
The Times noticed the problem early this week after receiving a Letter to the Editor from a resident of the Edifício do Lago building acknowledging precisely this issue.
The lawmakers also remarked that the problem is particularly important due to the fact that it was occurring in an economic housing building. Many of the families living there had limited ability to deal the costs of constant repairs since the warranty period was already expired, according to the government.
The lawmakers found such a response from the government unacceptable and urged the authorities to take responsibility for their lack of inspection of the construction works, and failure to find a definitive solution with the contractor when the problems started arising.
Using these cases as an example, the lawmakers also expressed concerns over the high number of public works that are currently occurring or about to start, calling on the government to reinforce their inspection and supervision of the construction of public infrastructure to not only guarantee that they will be built on time, but also that they will be built to last.
Some lawmakers also urged the government to include an added guarantee for buyers and users in new contracts, by extending the warranty period in which the contractors are responsible for the fixing of damage or failures in the construction. This period is currently only two years for general constructions and five years for impermeabilization issues, a period considered insufficient.
Lei also mentioned other public constructions that have reportedly suffered many flaws, including the underwater tunnel that connects Taipa Island to the University of Macau campus in Hengqin, as well as the Taipa Maritime Terminal. She urged the government to change its attitude regarding the design and construction of Zone A of the new landfills and other crucial projects, such as the Light Rapid Transit.
Zheng also added that similar problems have occurred at Ilha Verde with the fire doors, which is an essential safety structure in the event of a fire. The quality of the doors was certified to be below all the standards for such equipment.