Briefs | LRT Seac Pai Van advance works start today

The advance works of the construction of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) Seac Pai Van section project will be carried out from today for a period of 293 days.  Transportation at Estrada do Istmo, close to the kart race track side, will be limited, with some lanes temporarily closed for approximately 160 days. The advance works project has been outsourced to China Road and Bridge Corporation. The works include interchanging foundation works, and the building of main structures, temporary roads, and the site office itself.

9th food and cultural festival to kick off on Sept 28

The 9th International Cultural and Food Festival will kick off on September 28th at the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf.  The ten-day food event, which will be organized by seven local organizations, will end on October 7. The organizers expect to host between 20,000 and 25,000 visitors daily, with an estimated budget of over six million patacas. More than 100 stalls will be available at the festival, featuring food, retail and exhibition items, and tourist attractions. The organizers are calling for the participation of local food retailers. 

Consulate offers free medical check ups

The Indonesian Consulate in Macau co-held free medical check-ups for Indonesians living in the SAR over the weekend, partnering with different organizations in Indonesia. According to Tri Tharyat, Consul General of Indonesia in Hong Kong and Macau, they now have doctors who are willing to stay longer and extend their services in the city. He said the consulate was expecting over 150 migrant workers to avail from the free consultations offered by at least five doctors from Indonesia. Furthermore, Tharyat also said that the consulate had recently partnered with Healthcare Indonesian Hong Kong, a community organization that assists them with medical missions.

Newly registered firms mainly in wholesale, retail

A total of 1,720 new companies were incorporated in Macau in the second quarter of the year, mainly in wholesale business and retail, in what represents an increase of 491 year-on-year, the Statistics and Census Service announced this week. Analyzed by industry, there were 556 new companies operating in wholesale and retail and 505 in business services. The total registered capital of new companies in the second quarter reached MOP221 million. Analyzed by size of registered capital, there were 1,331 new companies (77.4 percent of total) with registered capital under MOP50,000, and the total value of capital was MOP34 million. Meanwhile, there were 29 new companies registered with capital of MOP1 million or over, and the total value of capital amounted to MOP138 million. The majority of the capital originated from Macau (47.51 percent) and the Chinese mainland (28.96 percent). Capital from Hong Kong accounted for 14.03 percent of the total. 

Gov’t accused of ignoring public opinion

Loi I Weng, a member of the Transport Advisory Council (CCT), has expressed doubts about whether public opinion is taken into account regarding Macau’s bus services. Lei criticized the SAR government for what she sees as a lack of transparency in regards to its own bus evaluation mechanism; for a lack of credibility, and for seeming to be “evaluating [bus services] behind closed doors.” Lei hopes that the authority can establish a public ranking for public services. She also called on the government not to ignore the CCT’s existence and to communicate more with the CCT.