Report | Authorities allegedly shelve land reserve for developers’ profit

At least four stretches of land long idle in the hands of the government could have been developed much earlier, according to a report by online newspaper All About Macau. The media outlet concludes that this is another case of collusion between the authorities and property developers.
According to the report, the available land reserve is located in the district between the Nam Van Lake and the Sai Van Lake, which connects the controversial reclaimed Zone B. The regulation introduced in 1991 by the Portuguese administration significantly confines buildings to be erected in that area in terms of permitted coverage, height and purpose of use, which AAM suspects was for future cultural and recreational development.
Nevertheless, All About Macau says that in 2006 the city’s former leader Edmund Ho issued an order that overthrew the regulation. Despite justifying the law’s repeal “for local social and economical development,” Ho’s move sparked speculation over his underlying intention to pave the way for construction of lucrative high-rises in that area.
C15 and C16, as indicated in the illustration, cover a combined area of 9,300 square meters. The former land plot was allegedly intended for a museum together with a gallery. Another approximately 39,000-square-meter area made up of plots C16 and D4, which was earmarked for construction of two office blocks for public services, ended up undeveloped for at least 25 years. As a consequence the government currently has to spend hundreds of millions in rent for its offices stretching across the territory.
Macau might have seen its second massive theater long ago on plot D3, complementing the Macao Cultural Centre, All About Macau reports.
Instead, a large proportion of the plot is set to become a profit-making zone for property developers. The report suggests that a total of MOP130 billion might flow into the pockets of those land concessionaires.
Besides, it also claims that the authorities had previously been colluding with property developers to withhold 14 of their already expired land concessions from the public while relaxing their planning conditions in the meantime. AU