Government pledges more resources for public housing

The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today said the Government was confident of acquiring – via utilisation of the administrative and legal system – more land resources in order to fulfil Macao’s need for public housing. The Government would additionally study the possibility of introducing further new categories of public housing for those people – in particular young people – who have not previously qualified for such housing, but also could not afford apartments in the private sector. The Government was preparing for a public consultation in this regard, he said. Mr Chui this afternoon shared details of the Government’s policy vision during a question-and-answer session with members of the Legislative Assembly. The session came after the Chief Executive’s presentation on Tuesday (15 November), of the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2017, which was titled “Development Plan in Progress for Building a Perfect Home”. In the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2017, the Government outlined a series of short-, medium- and long-term measures for public housing development. It included the construction of 12,600 units – of which 8,000 are planned for Avenida Wai Long, in Taipa – as a short-, and medium-term measure. A further 28,000 public housing units were planned for Area A, a new urban reclamation area, as one of the Government’s long-term measures to boost housing supply. Overall, the Government would expedite three areas of work in regard to public housing: to conduct research on the demand for public housing; to amend laws and regulations relating to public housing; and to acquire further land resources. In the coming year, the Government would focus on follow-up work regarding amendments to public housing law. It would also in the near future conduct a comprehensive review of the Home-Ownership Scheme. When asked by legislators, Mr Chui stated the Government had been closely monitoring the housing market and would use all means available to it in order to cool down the market, were there to be any irregularities leading to a generally unhealthy development of the sector. Mr Chui also gave some comments relating to the case of Pearl Horizon, an unfinished private residential project. The Government noted the ongoing legal proceedings relating to the case and the recent decision whereby a Macao court had ruled that the developer of Pearl Horizon was not entitled to retain its rights regarding the land plot where the project was being built. This was not a final legal decision: the Government would be able to propose a solution regarding the land only when all the relevant court proceedings had been completed, he said. The Government internally has conducted a number of analyses on issues such as tax, land concessions and utilisation of land, following the most recent court decision, Mr Chui added. The Government has additionally sought legal advice from the Prosecutor-General; and noted the Land Law has clear provisions with regard to the 25-year period attached to land concessions in Macao. In the session at the Legislative Assembly, Mr Chui shared the Government’s policy ideas in relation to labour relations, namely: safeguarding employment opportunities of local employees and enhancing their upward mobility, while optimising the business environment in Macao and offering more support to local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Government closely follows the principle of only allowing non-resident workers to be hired to cover any shortfall in local human resources. He said the Government was committed to optimising the mechanism of hiring non-resident workers: the total number of non-resident workers had decreased by 6,000, from 214,000 people as of May 2015 to 208,000 people as of September 2016. As part of the vision summed up in the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2017, the Government would introduce a number of measures to give a greater role to local SMEs in the development of further ties between Macao and its regional partners. Mr Chui said the Government would also introduce further initiatives that create a role for local SMEs when it comes to enhancing tourism facilities, in particular for the advancement of Macao as a world centre of tourism and leisure (known as the “Centre” Policy). Regarding education, the Government would continue to allocate fresh resources to support the development of transforming Macao as a training hub for professionals bilingual in Chinese and Portuguese. Issues raised by legislators during today’s session included: Macao’s Five-Year Development Plan; issues relating to the working poor; administrative reform; healthcare services; the welfare of civil servants; tax waiver measures; protection of personal data while developing a smart city; response to emergencies; sports tourism; youth policy; the education system; patriotic education; talent development; and a system for human organ donation.