The government will speed up the works that aim to renew and put back into operation the Border Gate underground bus terminal that suffered severe damage after the passage of Typhoon Hato in late August, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, informed to the solicitation of several lawmakers.
Rosario was speaking at the Legislative Assembly (AL) where he was subject to the first of two days of questioning from lawmakers regarding the government’s policy address for his secretariat.
At the plenary session Rosário advanced that the government was doing everything possible to conclude as early as possible the, clarifying, “we have already [received] authorization to perform the works seven days a week in between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.”
“I think that the duration period of the works will be shortened,” he added, without detailing how many days might be saved.
Adding to the explanation of the Secretary was a representative of the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) who said they “have been accelerating the works [to reduce their length by] about two or three months and for the third phase we will also do a tender in a accelerated way in order to open the terminus to the population as soon as possible.”
In another of the hot topics of the debate – the status and delays of several public constructions, namely the Islands District Medical Complex (Islands Hospital) – Rosário explained that he cannot provide a schedule for the works to be developed, nor a budget because, “We still don’t have the conception plan [from the Health Bureau] and if we don’t have the conception plan we can’t open the public tender.”
“If we do not open the public tender I can’t tell how long it will take and how much it will cost,” he continued, referring to the problem that occurs with many other projects, namely the Infectious Diseases Building. He said that the delays of the projects are not the responsibility of his secretariat but instead of the Secretariat of Social Affairs and Culture, led by Alexis Tam.
Angela Leong said she was “very worried” with the future of the land plot that is currently occupied by the Canidrome, and inquired about the future of the plot and if it will be used to build houses for the younger generation. She acknowledged the announcement from Tam last week that proposed to the Chief Executive the use of such resources to build a total of four schools, including one dedicated to special education.
On the topic, Raimundo do Rosário said, “We are currently studying the use of such land and collecting opinions and comments [from several organizations, departments and entities]. I believe that we can conclude that work in the third quarter [of 2018]. I don’t think that this is the right moment to express incomplete opinions. After [the work is done], it will be announced by the chief executive and then we will do that.”
“To talk about this now would create groundless expectations,” he concluded, once again hinting that the previously announced date from Tam might not be met.
Commenting on other topics related to public transportation, the Secretary noted the bill for the transport of passengers in light rental vehicles (taxi law) has been concluded and will soon reach the AL. “Don’t worry we will have time to discuss all this regulation here [at the AL], article by article.”
Surprisingly, the questions were mostly centered on topics that avoided mention of Typhoon Hato and the response and measures from the government in its aftermath. Still, lawmaker Lei Chan U was one of the few that asked about a “calamity prevention plan” to prevent the disruption of the water and electricity supply. Lei also questioned what the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) was doing to improve its weather alerts to the population.
“We have plans for those [water and power supply],” the Secretary replied. “We are all working on that,” adding that the damage to buildings were superficial and that “Hato was not a normal storm.” He also referred to the opinion of specialists who think that, due to climate change, situations like these might happen more often in the future. The Bureau is working on what is possible to do to prevent “major damage.”
As for the SMG, the acting director Raymond Tam said: “We are going to reinforce our human resources and equipment to ensure the operations of the SMG during [severe] typhoons,” namely acquiring new equipment that allows for the work even if there is a shortage in the power supply.
Lawmaker Sou at the AL as citizen
ONE DAY after his mandate as lawmaker was suspended, Sulu Sou attended the Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary session yesterday as a citizen. Seated on the back row, Sou was at the AL listening to the questions and answers from the other lawmakers to the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário. Unable to intervene in the debate, Sou dedicated the time to taking notes of what was being said in the AL plenary. In the meanwhile he still had time to reply to solicitations from the media taking part in interviews conducted outside the AL building.
Raimundo acknowledges lack of understanding between gov’t departments
On several occasions during yesterday’s plenary session at the AL, Raimundo do Rosário hinted at the existence of some disagreements in the delay of public works projects due to the responsibilities of “other departments.” At one point he clearly acknowledged a lack of understanding between government departments.
“As the Chief Executive said when he came here, we have two problems: one the juridical regime; the other is the [lack of] coordination between public services. I agree with that. I agree that there is a communication problem between the public services and that is why we need so much time to exchange ideas and opinions from different public departments. This isn’t easy,” the Secretary for Transport and Public Works said, without mentioning specific departments.
Nevertheless, in the examples widely cited during his speech it was clear that such problems are occurring with departments such as the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Health Bureau and the Education and Youth Affairs, all under the secretariat led by Tam.
Rosário suggested that the Master Plan – which he said won’t be concluded until 2019 – could solve most of the problems.
“This plan is very important for the major constructions and it’s also related with the 85 square kilometers of Maritime Area [granted to Macau by the Central Government].”
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