The Executive Council announced yesterday that the government has drafted a by-law on the establishment of a company tasked with the city’s urban renewal process.
Leong Heng Teng, spokesman for the government’s top advisory body, made the announcement during a press conference at Government Headquarters Thursday.
Government-drafted by-laws, officially known as administrative regulations, do not require the legislature’s approval.
The by-law will take effect on the day after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO), Leong said, adding that it will be promulgated in due course.
Leong said that the establishment of the company aimed to get the government’s urban renewal policies off the ground and ensure the coordination and management of the city’s urban renewal tasks.
According to Leong, the by-law authorises the establishment of a limited liability company composed of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), the government’s Industrial and Commercial Development Fund (FDIC) and the government’s Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT).
Translated directly from Chinese and Portuguese, Macau’s official languages, the firm is called Macau Renewal Company.
According to the by-law, the company will be tasked with coordinating and promoting the various tasks related to the city’s urban renewal process, apart from preventing the dilapidation of buildings and the deterioration of their conditions in terms of hygiene, appearance and safety, Leong said.
The by-law states that the company will be established with an initial capital of 100 million patacas to be fully subscribed and paid up in cash by three shareholders: the Macau Special Administrative Region holding 96 percent, the Industrial and Commercial Development Fund holding three percent and the Science and Technology Development Fund holding one percent, according to Leong.
The by-law also states that the chief executive is to promulgate the company’s statutes detailing the company’s operation in the Official Gazette, Leong said.
When asked by the media when the company will be formally established, Leong said that the preparatory tasks for its establishment are well underway, and he expected it to be set up in due course.
The government established the Urban Renewal Council – a consultative body tasked with advising the government on its urban renewal policies – in March 2016, replacing the Old Quarters Renewal Consultative Committee founded in 2005.
The government-appointed council is chaired by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário.
During a meeting of the Urban Renewal Council in October 2016, its members reached a consensus that it should be the government which leads the city’s urban renewal process – either by putting one of the government’s existing bureaus in charge, by establishing a new bureau, or by setting up a fully government-owned company. Then during a meeting in November 2016, the members suggested that the government set up its own company to lead the urban renewal process.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the council in January 2017, Rosario said that the government had agreed to set up a fully government-owned company to lead the city’s urban renewal projects, which was suggested by the council.
In late 2017, the Urban Renewal Council approved the draft of a by-law on the setting-up of the government-owned urban renewal company, and the draft of the company’s statutes, submitted by one of the council’s three working groups. Afterwards, the council submitted the two drafts to the government for their drafting process. In January this year, Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) officials told lawmakers that the government had finalised the two drafts.(Macaunews)
