Briefs | Locals complain about lack of work

A group of around 10 local Macau construction workers have complained about not being assigned to resume working. Yesterday, the group of local workers gathered at the Qingmao port immigration building construction site to accuse their employer of only assigning non-local workers back to work while local employees have remained suspended since January 28. The group wants their employer to pay the salaries due for January. The Labour Affairs Bureau immediately inspected the construction site yesterday. One person who claimed to be the person in charge of the site said that the non-local workers and local workers worked for different employers. The same person also said that the non-local workers were not resuming work and they were only sanitizing the site.

Online face masks scam discovered

The Judiciary Police (PJ) has reported an online shopping scam related to surgical face masks. Yesterday, the PJ issued a statement reporting the case. The bureau said that one victim learned from an online social network that a user on the same platform had facemasks for sale. The victim contacted the scammer in order to purchase 500 facemasks and then paid the first installment of several thousands of patacas in advance. Later, the scammer asked the victim to settle the rest of the payment. Realizing that the whole activity could be a scam, the victim reported the case to the PJ.

587 approvals given to SMEs to postpone loan repayments

As of yesterday, the Macao Economic Bureau (DSE) has approved 587 applications asking to postpone repayments. In total, the bureau received 983 applications and is expecting to process the rest of the applications within one week. Last November, the DSE introduced short-term measures to adjust the repayment of various financial support schemes. The three schemes are SME financial support, youth entrepreneurship financial support, and special financial support for SMEs affected by Typhoon Hato. Eligible parties can reduce the amount of the latest unpaid loan down to 1,000 patacas. Small businesses involved in the two SMEs financial programs mentioned who have two unpaid installments can only apply for the adjustment program after the two unpaid parts are repaid.