During Friday’s Q&A session in the Legislative Assembly, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said that the central government “has not approved” the local government’s request for permission to further reclaim land in the waters between the north-eastern coast of the peninsula and the north-western coast of the Zone A land reclamation area.
The chief executive did not elaborate on why the central government has not approved the request.
In its draft urban development plan for Zone A, the government is proposing that the possible further reclaimed area between the peninsula and Zone A would be earmarked for a green park.
Ho noted that the local government is only allowed to “manage” Macau’s 85 square-kilometre-large coastal waters granted by the central government. Different to Hong Kong, Ho said, the Macau government is not allowed to “use” its coastal waters without the central government’s formal permission.
The central granted Macau jurisdiction over 85 square kilometres of its coastal waters in 2015.
As Macau does not have the power to use its coastal waters without Beijing’s consent, Ho said, the local government’s plans for any reclamation projects will have to be approved by the central government before getting off the ground. Even the land reclamation of a “very small” area must be approved by the State Council, the chief executive said.
Ho said that the State Council has “declined” to approve the local government’s request for permission to reclaim land in the waters between the peninsula and Zone A, even though the local government was only proposing to set up a green park in the area rather than proposing to earmark the area for the construction of buildings.
Park & ice-skating rink
Meanwhile, Ho said that the government is planning to build a park on an area in central Taipa where a row of long-abandoned textile factory buildings has been demolished.
According to Ho, the government is also planning to build an underground international standard ice-skating rink below the park.
The area planned for the park and underground ice-skating rink is located between the Nam San Garden residential estate and two idle plots for which the government will hold land auctions next month. The two idle plots are earmarked for residential projects.
