Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário announced yesterday that the government was “planning” to demolish two social rental housing buildings in Toi San district due to their dilapidated condition.

Rosário made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending a reception at The Plaza Restaurant in Zape marking tomorrow’s International Workers’ Day hosted by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, commonly known as Gung Luen in Cantonese.

The two buildings are Block B and Block C of D. Julieta Nobre de Carvalho Building, located near the flyover on Avenida de Artur Tamagnini Barbosa. They were built in 1972 and 1975 respectively.

In Cantonese, the district, a part of the northern part of the peninsula, is known as Toi San, while in Portuguese it is known as Tamagnini Barbosa.

In Cantonese, D. Julieta Nobre de Carvalho Building is known as Ga Chui Lai Building.

Block A of Ga Chui Lai Building, built in the 1960s, was demolished in 2010 for the construction of a new high-rise social rental housing building, i.e., Toi Fai Building completed in 2022.

When they were built in the 1960s and 1970s, the three blocks of D. Julieta Nobre de Carvalho Building were initially used for accommodating those whose original homes were destroyed by fire. The three blocks were converted into social rental housing in the 1990s.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Rosário noted that Block B and Block C of D. Julieta Nobre de Carvalho Building were built several decades ago, and are now in a poor condition.

The policy secretary said that the government is planning to demolish the two buildings.

Also speaking to reporters, Housing Bureau (IH) Director Iam Lei Leng noted that his bureau has arranged for households in the two buildings to move to other social rental housing buildings.

According to Iam, almost all of the about 300 households in the two buildings have already moved to other social rental housing units, with only two or three households currently still living there.

Iam said that those in the two or three households are primarily ones with disabilities, adding that the government will work with community associations to help them move to other social rental housing units. 

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário (left) talks to reporters at The Plaza Restaurant in Zape yesterday as Housing Bureau (IH) Director Iam Lei Leng looks on. – Photo: Tony Wong