Briefs | Macau NPC representatives try autonomous vehicles in Shanghai

A delegation of representatives from the National People’s Congress’ Macau is currently visiting Shanghai. Their first stop was the SAIC Motor Corporation Limited Technical Center for Passenger Vehicles, where they tried operating an autonomous vehicle. Using a mobile phone, the vehicle was set to move within a certain area. The vehicle was even able to look for a parking spot by itself. The Shanghai government has several designated testing areas for autonomous vehicle technology. The allowed driving distance was initially set at 6 km, but has been extended to 12 km. Current laws mandate assisted auto-pilot in the vehicles, meaning that the operation of an autonomous vehicle must be done under the supervision of a human driver.

MIA serves 800,000 passengers in April, a new record

Macau International Airport (MIA) served more than 800,000 passengers in April, a new record. Year-on-year comparisons showed an increase of 19%. A 31% increase was recorded over the four-day Easter holiday, amounting to more than 120,000 passengers. This past April also saw the busiest month in the airport’s history. A total of 6,400 flights were handled. Passenger counts for the first four months of 2019 were above 3.1 million. Despite the increase, MIA was awarded Level 2 accreditation for control of carbon emissions for the sixth year in a row. The accolade was given by the Airport Council International.

No AL, gov’t consensus on social housing age floor

A review of the bill for the Social Housing Legislation continued at the First Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL). The bill proposes an increase in the minimum age of applicants from 18 to 23 years of age. However, the committee and the government are yet to reach a consensus with regard to this provision, though both sides have a common interest in preventing the abuse of the benefit. Secretary Raimundo do Rosário said that further discussion was needed to come to a consensus, but he was unable to predict how long it would take. Ho Ion Sang, chairperson of the committee, admitted that the government had taken the committee’s suggestion of adding a conditional waiver, which authorizes the Chief Executive to waive the age requirement in certain cases.