Briefs | Man detained for in-flight theft cases

A 38-year-old mainland man has been detained for multiple in-flight theft cases, the Judiciary Police (PJ) reported yesterday. In July, the PJ received a report from a mainland tourist about a personal loss of HKD7,000 in cash in addition to credit cards. On October 19, the suspect was detained at the Macau airport as he was about to enter the territory. Among his belongings, the PJ found HKD41,000 and RMB1,900 in cash, as well as amounts in other currencies, including U.S. dollars and euros. The PJ believes that the suspect is involved in more in-flight theft cases, and that there is a second suspect involved. The man denied the accusations and has been referred to the prosecution authority. The PJ is still investigating the whereabouts of a possible second man, who is on the run.

Electronic cigarette entry ban urged

Lawmaker Chan Hong has urged the local government to ban electronic cigarettes from entering Macau. In an interpellation written to the government, Chan remarked that electronic cigarettes pose a great danger to residents’ health and the society, adding that banning this type of cigarette is a major trend. Chan pointed out that in relation to Macau’s present law, individuals are allowed to bring to the territory no more than 25 grams of tobacco products. She believes that allowing people to bring electronic cigarettes to Macau poses difficulties to Macau’s tobacco control. In addition, Chan wants to know about the effectiveness of the city’s new tobacco control law, which has been implemented for more than one and a half years.

160 tenants vacate public houses due to rising income

Approximately 160 public housing tenants have left their rented public houses because their incomes exceed public housing requirements. Currently, Macau has a total of 14,020 public housing units. As of the third quarter of 2019, Macau had a total of 11,717 tenants, 160 tenants of whom returned their houses to the government due to the fact their income has exceeded a threshold. During the same period last year, 73 tenants moved out from public houses. In 14 cases this year, people were found not using the houses permanently or giving them to other people who were not involved in the contract established with the government. In five out of these 14 cases, tenants moved out voluntarily; legal procedures were needed for the remaining nine cases.