Briefs | Dead dolphin found in Coloane waters

Following the sighting of a dolphin off the coast from the Kun Iam Statue in the city’s NAPE District two days ago, the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) was notified by the Macao Customs Service yesterday afternoon that a dead dolphin of the same species had been found near the coast off the Tam Kung Temple area in Coloane. The DSAMA then notified the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) to arrange a body retrieval operation. In a related statement from the DSAMA, the bureau did not disclose any conclusions as to the cause of death. Usually the IAM conducts an autopsy on animal bodies found in Macau. In response to an inquiry made by the Times, the DSAMA stated it did not see any “evidence to suggest that is the same [dolphin from two days ago].”

Fire burns on allegedly illegal roof structure near Border Gate

Videos showing an iron structure on the roof of a low-rise residential building on fire near the Border Gate went viral yesterday. The incident was authenticated by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) when inquired about by the Times. The CB received a report about the incident at 4:36 p.m. The report was made by a member of the public, according to the bureau. Although a significant amount of smoke and a fuming blaze were captured in the videos, the extinguishing operation by the CB took about half an hour. Due to the fire, 55 people were evacuated from the building. There were no casualties or injuries following the incident. The CB declined to comment on whether the structure was illegal.

Forex reserves climb 1.4% to 179 billion patacas

The preliminary estimate of the Macau SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to 179 billion patacas ($22.43 billion) at the end of April 2020, according to data released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macao. In a statement, the Monetary Authority said that the reserves had increased by 1.4% over the revised value of 176.6 billion patacas for the previous month. At the end of April 2020, the territory’s foreign exchange reserves represented 10 times the currency in circulation. Meanwhile, the trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca rose 0.96 points month-to-month and 3.52 points year-on-year to 109.4 in April 2020. This implies that, overall, the exchange rate of the pataca grew against the currencies of Macau’s major trading partners.