Rosário refutes criticism over public housing

On one the highlighted topics of the plenary meeting at the Legislative Assembly yesterday, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo
do Rosário refuted the criticism of several lawmakers alleging the government had overlooked the needs of youngsters, public servants and others citizens included in the so-called “sandwich class” in terms of public housing studies.

Replying directly to spoken enquiries by lawmakers Song Pek Kei and Ho Ion Sang, but also to the interventions of Pereira Coutinho and Angela Leong, Rosário said, “you keep calling me to find solutions for this and that [youngsters and civil servants] but you seem to forget that there is no law to support this. Everything is possible as long as there is a law to support [it].” he remarked.

Similarly to what transpired during the discussion on the consequences of Typhoon Hato, the Secretary reminded that “in four days [on January 8] there is a meeting held by the Housing Bureau  that aims to provide clarification over the public housing study held by the government. The responsible people from the consultancy firm that performed the study will be present in order to clarify to all of you how was it done and why.”

Rosário also refuted the idea aired by lawmaker Song that the government was “reserving” half of the housing units initially planned for construction in Zone A of the new landfills.

“No, we don’t have such an idea. We will disclose all the plans of Zone A as well as the Avenida de Wai Long and the land plot of the former Thermal Power plant,” he answered. “I believe that, at least for the last one, we can start the construction works by the end of this year.”
Adding to the reply, the director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, Li Canfeng,  explained that the work at Zone A “is being split into several phases […] including the housing units as well as other public installations and facilities.”

Leong once more wanted the Secretary to say if the land plot of the Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome will be used for residential purposes, but Rosário refused to answer.

“I’m not going to say anything about the Canidrome. It will be the chief executive who will say what is going to be built there. Only in the second quarter of the year, I will be able to inform on that.” RM