Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário said yesterday that the government expects to hold land auctions later this year for four plots earmarked for residential projects.
Rosário made the remarks when replying to oral interpellations by several lawmakers during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle.
The government initially planned to hold land auctions for the four plots late last year, which did not get off the ground.
Since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999, only three plots of land have been awarded to the private sector through land auctions, according to previous news reports. Most plots were directly granted to enterprises and organisations over the past two decades, such as for casino-hotel operators.
Macau has not held land auctions since 2008, according to previous news reports.
According to the current Land Law, which took effect in 2014, all new land concessions must be awarded via open tender except when public interest is involved.
Several lawmakers asked about the latest progress of the government’s planned land auctions for the four plots during yesterday’s plenary session.
In his reply, Rosário acknowledged that the government initially planned to hold land auctions for the four plots last year, but it then decided to postpone them.
Rosário noted that the planned land auctions for the four plots will be the first time since the new Land Law took effect, because of which, he said, the government’s preparatory work for the auctions has been postponed.
Rosário said that for the time being, the government does not have an exact schedule as to when it would hold the land auctions for the four plots, but it aimed to get them off the ground later this year.
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo courtesy of TDM
