Briefs | Taxi driver arrested three months after defrauding passenger

A taxi driver who defrauded a passenger he transported from the Border Gate Plaza to the Rua de Malaca on November 22 has finally been caught by the police, the PSP said yesterday. The case, dating from almost three months ago, occurred when the passenger handed the driver a HKD1,000 banknote to pay for the ride upon arrival at the destination and, while pretending to search for money to give the right change, the driver took off and left the passenger with change of only HKD55. After reviewing footage from surveillance cameras, the PSP finally managed to identify the suspect and detain him on February 20 this year. The man admitted the crime, claiming he did it out of greed.

Social housing subsidy application starts March 1

Applications for the new phase of the temporary subsidy for households awaiting social housing will be accepted from March 1. The application period will last until March 31. The government has extended the temporary subsidy for waiting families for one year. Beneficiary family groups will receive a maximum of 12 subsidies. The monthly subsidy is 1,650 patacas for families consisting of one to two members and 2,500 patacas for families consisting of three or more people. Existing beneficiary family groups must update their monthly income certification documents, and will continue to receive subsidies after they are deemed eligible for the benefits.

Lawmaker demands regulation on locksmith services

Lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong has argued that the local government should regulate the locksmith services industry. “I think that the Macau SAR should indeed establish regulations and guidance for locksmith services in order to protect the safety of the property of households while first ensuring a free economy,” Ng wrote. Ng’s opinion is based on the fact that such regulations already exist all over the world. Overall, the lawmaker proposes some relatively easy practices, such as logging in every locksmith service for a temporary period to keep a record of every service, and engaging personal data protection officers to watch log records.