More repair money, please

The Urban Renewal Committee has agreed to propose an increase in the building repair fund to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in order to fulfil the objectives for old house renewal.
“The Housing Bureau will make a presentation of the background to the board. Following this presentation at the next meeting, members will issue opinions and views on how to improve or expand this fund. The amount of reconstruction the fund can do at the moment is limited so we believe we can make better use of the fund,” Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosario told reporters yesterday following an Urban Renewal Committee meeting. The Director of the Housing Bureau will present the fund change jointly with the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) to the legislators on commercial activity condominium administration.
Heated forum
This decision comes after yesterday morning some Urban Renewal Committee members discussed the city’s urban renewal policy on the TDM radio programme ‘Macau Forum’, urging a better redevelopment plan for older parts of the city.
Lok Wai Tak, a committee member on the Urban Renewal Committee, suggested the administrative procedure for redevelopment of old buildings and repairing streets, sewers and landscaping in the city, has been inefficient in the past and urged the local government to speed up the urban renewal work.
Mr. Lok also suggested the government relocate tenants to temporary housing units, regardless of whether the tenants are non-residents, and believed the government should ease the limit on height, arguing that otherwise developers will have difficulties participating in redevelopment projects.
Fellow committee member Manuel Iok Pui Ferreira suggested that the government base its polices on how Zhuhai redevelops its old buildings, mentioning how the neighbouring territory’s government compensates affected property owners with a 1:1.2 ratio.