Alexis Tam defends project as per int’l standards

The Conde de S. Januário Hospital (CHCSJ) selected a group of residents, irrespective of whether or not they live near to the location of the planned infectious disease building, and introduced to them the new facility and the Coloane hospital under construction.
During a meeting that took place after the visit, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, pledged that “the buildings are designed with World Health Organization [WHO] standards, they are completely safe, regardless of the facilities inside the buildings or the transportation procedures.”
Alexis Tam in addressing Mr Zhang, a resident who lives close to the proposed site of the infectious disease building, said: “We are happy that you are here today. We have been trying to invite you to talk with us on many occasions.”
Zhang had previously requested officials to indicate the number of infectious buildings that exist in the United States, and to clarify how close they are to residential communities.
Zhang posed that “if there are one hundred infectious disease buildings in the US, then on average there will be two for each state, and each state of the US is [individually] bigger than Macau.”
To this, Alexis Tam replied: “our websites provide all the needed information. […] We thoroughly follow WHO guidelines. […] As to the size, the US is a big country [while] Macau is small. Our standards are not the same as the US standards.”
One member of ANM who was present requested the authorities to provide the public with more details of the project. In response, Alexis Tam said that they “are willing to provide the documents to the public.”
“Obviously, our government will have to explain to the public what the policies consist of […] right now, the project is under construction bidding, and for that reason we can’t publish any details at this stage.” Staff reporter