The Fisherman’s Wharf theme park in the Outer Harbour is going back to its original plan of building a 60-metre-high hotel instead of one with a height of 90 metres, a one-third reduction, in response to public concern, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf International Investment Ltd. President Melinda Chan Mei Yi said yesterday.
Chan, the wife of Macau Legend Group Co-chairman and CEO David Chow Kam Fai, made the announcement while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Spring Festival media lunch hosted by the local Sin Meng Charity Association, which she heads.
Chan said that “it wasn’t necessary to cause so much worry or cause certain people psychological discomfort or concern about the view,” adding she believed a 60-metre high hotel was adequate and that it was just a matter of getting the approval from the company’s board before submitting the revised plan to the government, which she hopes could be done soon.
Chan said that as president of the company, her target for the coming two years would be transform Fisherman’s Wharf into one of Macau’s must-see tourist attractions.
The company had previously applied for a redevelopment project in an area close to Sands Macao. When it was confirmed that the area was not inside the UNESCO-required heritage protection buffer zone, therefore, the company was not obliged to follow the government’s relevant height limit guidelines there, it changed the height of the hotel in its redevelopment plan from 60 metres to 90 metres, resulting in a raft of complaints by environmentalists and urban heritage activists who said that the increased height would affect the view of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Guia Lighthouse.
Meanwhile, Chan also said that although she lost her re-election bid in last year’s Legislative As sembly polls, she was still passionate about serving society and was concerned about young people’s housing issues.
Chan noted that the recent government property measures haven’t helped curb property prices but made it even harder for locals, especially young people, to become a homeowner.
Chan said that the government in the long-run would need a housing policy that takes into account the supply situation of different types of housing. She urged the government to conduct systematic research on housing taxes and not roll out measures one at a time that offset the previous ones.
Macau Fisherman’s Wharf International Investment Ltd President Melinda Chan Mei Yi speaks to reporters on the sidelines of a Spring Festival media lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf yesterday. Photo: MPDG
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