Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak confirmed the Qingmao Border Checkpoint Building will likely be completed next month, on the basis of information available to him, the senior official disclosed on the sidelines of a parliamentary committee meeting.
Wong additionally said that internal tests had already commenced.
With that said, he expressed confidence that the building can be opened for public use in the second half of the year. Factors determining the opening date include progress of décor works, joint simulations and, most importantly, approval from the Central Government.
Following previous announcements, Wong reiterated that the new border checkpoint building will be equipped with 100 e-border channels, meaning that no police or immigration officers will be needed to check IDs.
As such, Wong stressed that human resources on the Macau side are ready. Simulations and fine-tuning can only commence after the installation of the e-border channels.
A recent government proposal to collect biometric data of border users in Macau has raised public concerns over personal data privacy. When questioned about that the issue, Wong emphasized that it is not mandatory for the law-enforcement authority to collect the data, but that the law permits it to do so.
He added that when Macau residents apply for the ID, they will have had their fingerprint, which is a type of biometric data, collected by the government. AL
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