Over 2,200 say no to Lisboa Gardens

In a survey launched by the New Macau Association more than 2,200 people said they were against the construction of six high-rise residential towers at the Lisboa Gardens project on the Small Taipa Hill.
The pan-democrats delivered a petition to the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) yesterday calling on authorities to reject the developer’s application to change the land use.
In the last week, the association went to some of the most crowded spots in Macau and Taipa, asking residents to provide an opinion on the project, and 2,220 people voted against the high-rise towers, while only 13 were in favour.
“We chose to deliver the proposal today [yesterday] because it’s the final day of the consultation period,” the president of the New Macau Association, Jason Chao, told Macau Daily Times.
The original consultation period was slated to end on June 2 but was extended by DSSOPT “in response to public demand”.
The New Macau Association wants the government “to put a halt to the project, but it’s not only about preserving the hill,” Chao said.
Companhia de Investimento Predial Ka Fai (Ka Fai Building Investment Company) proposed building towers up to 154 metres above sea level (on block 1) and 139 metres (on block 2). The Small Taipa Hill itself is about 110 metres tall.
“These plots were granted over two decades ago and should have been developed by now,” the pan-democrat stressed. In addition, he said, “the concession was for low-density buildings, not skyscrapers”.
The Lisboa Gardens project began in the 1980’s on a 25,797 square-metre land site and included residential units, villas, commercial areas, clubhouses, a four-star hotel as well as a private car park.

Corruption probe

However, after only nine residential buildings and an education centre were built, the remainder of the project was suspended in October 1994 due to a lawsuit. The land concession expired in December 2005 but the legal problem was only finalised in 2009.
On February 3, 2009, 10,412 square metres of land were returned to the government for public road construction, while the remaining 15,385 square metres were leased to the same developer for 25 years along with two smaller blocks occupying 46 square metres.
Ka Fai paid a land premium of almost MOP 112.3 million and was granted a four-year deadline to develop the site at Estrada de Sete Tanques.
“The authorities could have retrieved the land in 2005 but played the same land trick as [former secretary] Ao Man Long: [secretary for Transport and Public Works] Lau Si Io took back the plot but immediately gave it back to the same developer,” Chao complained.
The association’s petition calls on the government to investigate whether there was any evidence of corruption in the 2009 concession. The document was delivered to a DSSOPT representative along with 1,732 signatures from local residents.
Before departing to Fuzhou yesterday, Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On told journalists that public opinion was always welcome and the government will analyse all suggestions and views collected during the Lisboa Gardens consultation period, “in a wide transparent fashion”.
Last week pan-democrat lawmaker Au Kam San demanded the government submit the case to the Commission Against Corruption for a thorough investigation.