AL Plenary | Cultural Affairs Bureau criticized following CCAC report

The IC headquarters at Tap Seac Square

Several lawmakers yesterday recalled the recent Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) report in their criticism of the recruitment system that has been used by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC).

Ella Lei brought up the issue during yesterday’s Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary meeting, claiming “the chief executive and the secretary responsible for the public service in question have the duty of giving direct instructions and supervision to the IC to correct the illegalities.” Lei said that if there are officials who have violated the law, they should take responsibility for their actions.

The lawmaker remarked that, to defend its “prestige,” the government should disclose the status of the follow-up work on the case, step-by-step, and keep all citizens informed of what is being done to fix the problem.

Claiming that governing in accordance with the law is a fundamental responsibility of the government, Song Pek Kei remarked: “All this shows is that many civil servants have, in fact, little legal knowledge.” Song said that even if the laws are good, in the event that civil servants do not comply them, it is still “the government’s prestige” on the line. Song Pek Kei urged the government to reinforce the work being done to reform the juridical training.

Lawmaker Ho Ion Sang also criticized the services’ alleged non-adoption of guidance measures proposed by the CCAC and the Audit Commission and said that the government was incapable of inspecting such infractions. Ho claimed that there is a need to adopt a system that “reduces the intervention of human factors” to raise transparency. Ho urged the government to make significant changes after such investigations and outcomes.

Account approved without debate

The 2016 AL Management Account report and first supplementary budget were both approved by unanimous vote. Both issues did not raise any debate among the lawmakers. The Management Account registered in 2016 a surplus of about MOP738,000. The total expenditure on the same year was about MOP160 million, an amount which represents an execution rate of 87 percent, 2 percentage points less than in the previous economic year (89 percent in 2015).

On the lawmakers’ agenda

RECYCLING Mak Soi Kun and Angela Leong urged authorities to devote land resources to people and enterprises dedicated to recycling, calling on the government to present concrete measures to support such micro and small enterprises dedicated to this field. “The sector has already complained to the government but they seem not to give any importance [to the issue]. The support is zero and the disappointment is great,” Mak said, noting that people dedicated to the sector are in decline and distrust the government. Leong also said that recent government measures have contributed to a rise of 5 percent of ‘vehicle scrapping’, which has left the scrapyards overburdened. According to Leong’s estimates, the goal of recycling 30 percent of abandoned resources is still far from being achieved.

PEARL HORIZON Zheng Anting brought the topic of the Pearl Horizon flat owners’ rights to the plenary once again. Remarking on a solution allegedly being negotiated between the government and the developer to refund the buyers, Zheng claimed to have been granted authority on the behalf of the buyers to denounce the solution as unacceptable. He said that the flat owners demand what they paid for – an apartment.

DOMESTIC WORKER RESTRICTIONS Wong Kit Cheng remarked that both the current and the former Secretaries for Economy and Finance had promised to implement measures aiming to restrict the ability of visitors on tourism visas to apply for non-resident worker permits. According to Wong, the lack of regulation of work agencies is contributing to an imbalance in the market, which might create problems for the hiring of domestic helpers. Wong also urged the government to establish communication mechanisms with the countries and provinces that traditionally supply such workers, in order to strive for a method of their training and certification.