Gov’t grants Coloane plots to holders of old land deeds

A solution for the holders of old land deeds (‘Sa Chi Kai’ in Cantonese) might be closer than ever as the government has accepted applications from two long-time residents of Coloane village.
After “more than a year of legal analysis,” the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) has granted two plots of 23 and 24 square metres located at Beco do Campo for the construction of a three-storey residential building. The concession lasts for 25 years but can be renewed.
The goal is to “solve in a gradual and planned manner this issue left over from history,” DSSOPT said. The bureau added that locals who were living in Coloane village long before the handover were a priority.
There are a number of restrictions on the concession which are intended to “prevent future speculation on the granted plot or on the construction to be built there,” DSSOPT said. Residents have three years to complete the building “with no possibility of extending the development deadline,” DSSOPT stressed. Over the next five years the building can only be used for residential or residential and commercial purposes.
In addition, the residents cannot transfer their concession rights to another person and may only rent out part of the building.
The Coloane Residents Association welcomed the decision.
“I hope the government will go after the truth and gradually resolve all these cases, because many of them don’t meet government standards. But if the house is ‘legal’, then everything including management will be easier,” the association’s vice-president Sou Chat Kan told TDM News.
He hoped the decision would encourage other holders of old land deeds to also try to get a formal concession to their Coloane village homes.
Although many long-time residents are in possession of ‘Sa Chi Kai’, the Basic Law states that the government will not recognise such deeds as a valid certification document of land ownership.