A total of 120 fishing vessels have temporarily returned to Macau to spend the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday in the Inner Harbor, according to the Marine and Water Bureau.
Yesterday, the Bureau, together with the Fire Services Bureau, Macau police authorities, and two associations from the fishing sector visited the fishermen at the Inner Harbor, where they distributed safety and hygiene promotional materials to the fishermen whose vessels have been anchored. The activity was carried out in the hopes of preventing safety risks during the holiday.
Each year, the water authority calculates the number of fishing vessels. The Marine and Water Bureau believes that more fishing vessels are returning to Macau for the holiday.
Between Wednesday Feb. 6 and Saturday Feb. 9, the Bureau will deploy one tugboat and one speedboat to the Inner Harbor in order to ensure safety in the area.
The Bureau is also setting up a fire prevention separation zone to make sure that when a fire incident occurs, the fire’s spread can be prevented.
“It is easy for danger to arise in such a dense environment. We will arrange a 24-hour tugboat at the center of the Inner Harbor as [an] alert. When there is any sudden occurrence, we can arrange vessels [to coordinate],” said Lao Weng U, head of the Maritime Service Division of the Marine and Water Bureau.
During the CNY holiday, the marine authority will provide additional speedboats and officers conducting inspections at the said location. Additionally, the Bureau will strengthen supervision to ensure that all passengers on vessels wear life jackets and that passenger overloading is avoided.
In addition to safety issues, the Marine Bureau will also take measures to maintain the clean water environment.
“We will regularly distribute sanitary bags, so that fishermen can put refuse into them. There will also be ferries collecting trash,” announced Lao, urging the fishermen to “never dump the trash into the water. If we find anyone dumping trash into the water, we will issue a punishment.”
Furthermore, the Bureau revealed that in order to support the sustainable development of fisheries, the SAR government provides interest-free loans to fishermen through a fisheries development and assistance fund.
Since the establishment of the fund in 2007, there have been 213 applications approved, amounting to MOP70 million.
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