Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On said on Tuesday that the government would push ahead with its controversial plan to build public housing on the plot of the abandoned La Scala luxury housing project in Taipa, as the government was determined to tackle the city’s strong public housing demand.
Speaking during a post-policy address press conference at Government Headquarters, Chui said the government made the decision to build public housing on the plot after listening to residents’ requests that the government look for sufficient plots of land for public housing projects.
Early this month, several members of the government-appointed Urban Planning Council voiced their opposition to the government’s plan for a huge public housing project with a proposed height limit of 155 metres on the plot near the airport.
The plot sits on the bottom of Big Taipa Hill in Avenida Wai Long.
The plot covers an area of 83,742 square metres on which the government plans to build a public housing estate and community facilities.
In early September, the government announced the final version of its Five-Year Development Plan, according to which more than 8,000 public housing units could be built on the plot.
Chui’s 2017 Policy Address proposes that the government build 12,600 public housing units in “the short or medium term”, including 8,000 public housing units on the plot in Avenida Wai Long.
Chui said that the government had decided to build public housing on the plot after studying the situation for a long time.
Chui pointed out that not all the members of the Urban Planning Council opposed the plan to construct public housing on the plot.
Chui added that the government would build “many” public housing units on the plot, because the government had managed to repossess such a “precious” plot of land.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
