Briefs | CC concerned about cancelled flights

Macau’s Consumer Council (CC) has iterated in a statement its concerns about the impact on consumers due to Air Macau’s cancellation of Macau-Fukuoka flights during the period February 17 to March 15. According to the statement, the council met with representatives of Air Macau on Friday to discuss the impact of the cancellations on consumers. The CC claims to have received “quite a number of inquiries” following the announcement of the cancellations. The council recommended that the airline company respond to such requests and “make appropriate arrangements.” Air Macau countered that it has put in place arrangements for the transfer of affected customers to and from other destinations. The council further suggested for Air Macau to announce more details as soon as possible to alleviate the worries of consumers.

Two cats suspected of being abused to death

Two cats living at the Jardim Municipal da Montanha Russa area were recently found dead with signs indicating that abuse may have been the cause of death, according to a report by Macau Concealers.  The two cats were both older than five years. A woman, who had been feeding these cats, noticed their disappearance on February 4. On February 9, the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau informed the lady that it had completed the autopsy report, whereby it concluded that the cats might had been beaten to death. The bureau has already informed the Public Security Police Force.

 HKZM bridge cost to exceed budget

The Secretary for Transport and Housing Bureau of Hong Kong, Cheung Bing-Ieung, announced that the cost of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge might exceed its budget.  Last week, during a visit to the bridge, Cheung said that the budget overrun is due to a shortage of human resources and to the nature of project itself.  However, the size of the budget excess  remains uncertain at this stage. Cheung further stated that the governments of the two SARs and of Zhuhai will negotiate expenditures and cover them according to a specific undisclosed ratio. Cheung expects the main part of the bridge to be completed by the end of December.  In turn, the Hong Kong section is also expected to be completed by the end of this year. Cheung also said that the detailed schedule for the bridge’s opening will depend on decisions yet to be made by the three governments.

Graffiti on Igreja de São Domingos

The walls of the Igreja de São Domingos, at the side of Travessa do Soriano, was carved with two Chinese words, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) found last week. The incident has been forwarded to the Judiciary Police (PJ) for further investigation. As of Friday, no one has been arrested. The IC claims that repairing the walls will cost MOP5,000. On February 2, a similar case was discovered at the Tap Seac Gallery, which was vandalized with illegal graffiti. According to the IC, repairing the walls will cost approximately MOP20,000. The PJ claimed that whoever was involved in the graffiti, causing the damage, will be charged with aggravated destruction of relics, and can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison. 

Tehran blocked U.S. residents based in HK

In response to Donald Trump’s executive order on January 27 to ban entry of citizens from seven Islamic countries to the United States, Iran has denied the visa applications of two U.S. nationals. The U.S. nationals, who are based in Hong Kong, had their visas rejected because of Trump’s policy, as clarified by Tehran’s top envoy to the HKSAR. According to the envoy, one of those rejected was a Hong Kong “girl” holding a U.S. passport, while the other was a businessman traveling to Iran for work. He added that “reciprocity is the only arm we have in diplomatic relations,” according to a South China Morning Post report. However, since the U.S. judiciary has temporarily halted Trump’s order, Iranian officials have confirmed that they are resuming the issuing of visas for U.S. citizens. The executive order sought to prevent the entry of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen to the U.S. for a period of 90 days.