Briefs | Polytec drops appeal to avoid further litigation costs: Alves

Lawyer Leonel Alves, when asked about property developer Polytec Group’s withdrawal of appeal in the Pearl Horizon case, estimated that the enterprise made the decision on the grounds of saving a large amount of money that would otherwise have been used on legal actions. Within the case, the enterprise asked the government for compensation of MOP25 billion. He stressed that neither he nor his firm was representing the Polytec Group, so the reason was only his estimation. In September, the court received a request from the enterprise to withdraw its appeal. The case is now closed.

Permit sought for domestic helpers with expired visa

Lawmaker Wong Kit Cheng has asked the Macau SAR government to give temporary permits to some domestic helpers whose bluecards have expired so they can continue doing their jobs. Wong pointed out a difficulty created by the government’s pandemic policies and the amended non-local employment law. As the new law amendment came into effect on October 5, current domestic helpers must leave the city when their blue card expires and re-enter the city with a new valid employment permit. This situation poses the risk of a shortage of domestic helpers. Wong hopes the SAR government can give temporary staying permits to those who are already in Macau. She also urges the local government to open the domestic service market to more mainlanders.

Lawmaker wants to ease mainlanders’ travel restrictions

Lawmaker Ho Ion Sang has urged the SAR government to negotiate with mainland China’s government to ease travel restrictions for mainland residents. In his interpellation to the government, Ho asked to extend the validity of Covid-19 test results to 14 days compared to the current seven days. He also hopes that mainland China can resume issuing travel permits to Macau via online services instead of only manual means. Citing Macau’s visitor statistics, Ho believes that the aforementioned conditions are among the major reasons dissuading mainland visitors from traveling to Macau. In addition, the lawmaker also wants the government to review its strategies in attracting visitors.