The government is considering scaling down its public housing project on the plot at the bottom of Big Taipa Hill in Avenida Wai Long –the plot of the ill-fated La Scala luxury housing project near the airport – by reducing the number of flats from the initially planned 6,500 units, to between 4,000 and 5,300 units.
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário and Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) Director Lam Wai Hou briefed lawmakers on Friday about the government’s original proposal and two new proposals for the huge public housing project, where all flats will be subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) units. The presentation session, which was open to the media, was held at the Legislative Assembly (AL) building.
The government’s aim in Friday’s session was to hear lawmakers’ views before deciding whether to keep its original proposal or to adopt one of the two new proposals.
In its original proposal – the details of which were also presented during Friday’s session, the government planned to build up to 6,500 HOS units on the plot. In the first new proposal, the government plans to build 4,800 to 5,300 HOS units, while in the second new proposal, the government plans for 4,000 HOS units on the plot.
The area of the 83,000-square-metre plot covers a flat surface as well as some parts of the hill.
Rosário pointed out that at the very beginning the government planned to build 8,000 units on the plot, before reducing the number to 6,500 units subsequently after a further study about the project.
The government’s public housing programme comprises HOS flats and social rental housing units.
The government announced in 2016 that it planned to build over 8,000 public housing units on the former La Scala plot. However, the then chief executive Fernando Chui Sai On said in late 2017 when presenting his 2018 Policy Address to lawmakers that preliminary findings of his government’s assessment showed that only 6,500 public housing units could be built on the plot. In 2018, Chui told lawmakers during a Q&A session that his government had decided that the public housing buildings on the plot would be for HOS flats only.
Rosário pointed out during Friday’s briefing session that the government has decided to study whether the number of 6,500 HOS units could be reduced on the Wai Long plot, considering that a number of public housing projects have got off the ground on the Zone A land reclamation area where the government will build a total of 28,000 public housing units, apart from the fact that the government now has sufficient land resources for its future public housing projects.
‘Quality living’
Rosário insisted that the government does not want to come up with an “excuse” for building fewer units on the plot or postponing the project by raising the two new proposals. Instead, he said, the government now aims to put special emphasis on the living quality rather than the “quantity” of units for its new public housing projects. “[The government] hopes that everybody can live more comfortably by changing the planning [for the public housing project on the Wai Long plot],” the policy secretary said.
Rosário reaffirmed that “nowadays the living quality is more important than the quantity [of units]” for the government’s public housing projects. “Why would we need to let 6,000 or so households crowd together,” the policy secretary said.
Rosário said that in the original proposal, a number of towers would be built very close to each other in a way that “residents [living in different towers] could [even] shake hands with each other by stretching out their hands”.
In addition to several public housing towers, a public facility building will be built on the Wai Long plot. The government is also planning to build a vehicular tunnel under Big Taipa Hill with the aim of relieving traffic pressure on the area – where the airport and the Taipa Ferry Terminal are located – where traffic is expected to become even busier in the future following the completion of the public housing project. A flyover connected with both exits of the future Big Taipa Hill tunnel will be built above the plot earmarked for the public housing project.
During Friday’s session, Lam presented details of the government’s original proposal and the two new proposals for the huge public housing project on the Wai Long plot. In the original proposal, according to Lam, 13 towers, with a proposed height limit of 105.5 metres, would be built providing HOS 6,000 to 6,500 units on the plot. There would be a distance of 45 metres between two of the towers for the future flyover.
According to Lam, the government has passed traffic flow, air flow and environmental assessments of the public housing project under the original proposal.
2 scaled-down proposals
In the first new proposal, according to Lam, 11 towers (reduced by two towers from the original proposal) would be built on the plot, reducing the number of HOS units by 1,200 from the original proposal. Therefore, only 4,800 to 5,300 units would be provided in this proposal, which would enable the space for the future flyover to be widened to 90 metres, apart from larger distances between the towers, according to Lam.
However, Lam said that the implementation of the first new proposal would require a follow-up environmental assessment.
In the second new proposal, according to Lam, residents would be able to enjoy even more space between the towers. However, only 4,000 HOS units could be provided in the second new proposal “which, however, would enable a better living quality”, Lam said.
As the second new proposal involves a major change from the original proposal, it would require the government to carry out new traffic flow, air flow and environmental assessments, Lam said.
Lam also said that the government now aims to complete the initial design of the Big Taipa Hill tunnel project by the end of this year, after which it would invite bids for the design and construction of the large-scale project.
Rosário said that the project to build the two-kilometre-long tunnel would be “difficult, big and complicated”, because of which the government does not have a timetable as to when it would be completed.
80 pct of flats to be 2-bedroom units
According to Rosário, one-bedroom flats will take up 5 percent of the total number of units, while two-bedroom flats and three-bedroom flats will account for 80 percent and 15 percent, regardless of which of the three proposals will be adopted.
Speaking to reporters after Friday’s presentation session, Rosário said that the government will not carry out a public consultation on the three proposals. But he was quick to add that the government will welcome opinions raised by residents, who can submit their suggestions to the Infrastructure Development Office, he said.
Rosário also said that the government aimed to decide which of the three proposals would be adopted in the near future after gathering lawmakers’ opinions.
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário speaks to reporters at the Legislative Assembly (AL) on Friday after a presentation session where he briefed lawmakers about the government’s original proposal and two new proposals for its public housing project on the plot in Avenida Wai Long near the airport in Taipa. – Courtesy: TDM
