‘Sandwich class’ housing project put on ice

      Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng yesterday underlined the need for Macau to always stay vigilant against the possible occurrence of chaos resulting from external forces’ interference, stressing that the local government can’t wait until chaos arises before tackling it.

Speaking at a post-policy address press conference at Government Headquarters, the chief executive also said that “foreign” forces will not give up their “attacks” on Macau as they don’t want to see the successful implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.

The press conference, which lasted one hour, took place after Ho delivered his nearly two-hour 2024 Policy Address to the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday afternoon.

When delivering his 2024 Policy Address to lawmakers in the legislature’s hemicycle, Ho said that the local government will continue to firmly defend Macau against any chaos. A reporter asked Ho during yesterday evening’s press conference where Macau’s possible chaos might come from.

Ho replied that chaos could occur in Macau any time, asking the reporter rhetorically what were the sources that created Hong Kong’s chaos a few years ago.

Ho said that external forces were “constantly” attempting to attack Macau, adding that various websites in Macau are facing “numerous” cyberattacks every day, including government websites and those of other major organisations.

Foreign forces don’t want successful ‘One Country, Two Systems’

Ho went on to say that “foreign” forces will not give up attacking Macau as they don’t want the implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle to succeed, because of which, he said, it was inevitable that Macau would continue to face attempted attacks from external forces.

Ho underlined the need for the local government to adopt a preventive approach for dealing with any possible woes resulting from external forces’ interference, adding that “we can’t wait until something ignites before we put out the fire”.

Ho used alternately the terms “foreign” and “external” during the press conference. According to local analysts, the term “external” comprises foreign countries and the Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Ho said that the local government needed to keep reminding residents about the possible occurrence of chaos in Macau. He said that Macau needed to always remain vigilant against the issue, even though that some residents may think that “Macau is now peaceful”.

Govt suspends Wai Long sandwich-class housing project

Meanwhile, Ho also said during yesterday’s press conference that the government has decided to suspend its first sandwich-class housing project on the plot at the bottom of Big Taipa Hill in Avenida Wai Long, i.e., the plot of the ill-fated La Scala luxury housing project near the airport, because of civil society’s currently relatively low demand for sandwich-class housing units.

Following the collapse of the private luxury housing project, the Wai Long plot was first earmarked by the government for a subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) housing project, but Ho announced last year that the government had then decided to build its first sandwich-class housing project on the plot instead.

The legislature passed a bill regulating the government’s sandwich-class housing projects in its final reading during a plenary session in August this year. The new law will take effect on April 1 next year.

Government-built sandwich-class housing projects aim to provide affordable flats for local residents who are not eligible to buy a flat in the government’s HOS projects but cannot afford to buy a flat in the private sector either. Sandwich-class housing projects also aim to cover those who are eligible to buy an HOS flat but are ranked in a lower priority position on the HOS points-based system.

The government’s plan to build housing projects for the city’s “sandwich class” was first proposed by Ho in 2020.

During yesterday’s press conference, Ho noted that previously it was almost impossible for young local people without children to buy an HOS flat because of their lower scores in the HOS application process as many residents filed their applications when the government launched several rounds of applications at that time. Consequently, Ho noted, the government proposed its sandwich-class housing programme a few years ago.

However, Ho noted, the government has so far only received a relatively small number of applicants in its current three-month application round for 5,415 HOS flats in the Zone A land reclamation area, which started at the end of September.

Ho said that for the current HOS application round, which is running until the end of next month, eventually the number of applicants could be expected to be even less than the number of flats available in this application round, namely 5,415 HOS flats.

Therefore, Ho said, for the time being the government should not spend money from the public coffers to develop a sandwich-class housing project.

The government has concluded that for the time being there is no need to build its first sandwich-class housing project. Consequently, he said, the government has now decided to suspend its sandwich-class housing project for the Wai Long plot, for which a public tender was initially slated to be launched next year.

Ho underlined that the government has not cancelled its sandwich-class housing programme, pointing out that the government is currently drafting a supplementary administration regulation (by-law) on the programme, which is required by the sandwich-class housing law.

The last time the government accepted applications for HOS flats was in 2021 – for 5,254 units in Zone A, for which the government received around 11,000 applications at that time.

Ho underlined that if there is a need for its sandwich-class housing projects in the future, the government would resume its first sandwich-class housing project on the Wai Long plot.

Meanwhile, Ho also said during the press conference that he had still not decided whether he would seek re-election for next year’s chief executive election. His current five-year term will end at midnight on December 19 next year.

Ho also said that based on the government’s current assessments, Macau’s gross gaming revenue could not reach 180 billion patacas this year.

Ho also said that after the Cotai hospital complex starts its trial operation next month, emergency services will not be provided there initially because it would not be suitable to run such services during the facility’s trial operation.

Ho also said that the government has told Air Macau to buy bigger aircraft with the aim of being able to operate international routes to further destinations

Ho stressed in his policy address that in the first half of this year, Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 71.5 percent year on year in real terms, while its overall economic output returned to 71 percent of its level during the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. 

Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case in January 2020.

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng speaks at a post-policy address press conference at Government Headquarters yesterday evening.
– Photo: GCS