Briefs | Three new judges step into office

Three new judges took oaths and stepped into office yesterday. José Maria Dias Azedo, who was previously a judge at the Court of Second Instance (TSI), will replace Viriato Manuel Pinheiro de Lima as one of three judges at the Court of Final Appeal (TUI). Meanwhile, Chao Im Peng will take over as President of the TSI, and Cheong Weng Tong has been appointed as President of the Court of First Instance (TJB). The trio was appointed yesterday by Chief Executive Chui Sai On, together with Lau Cheok Vá, chairman of the Independent Commission on the Recommendation of Judges.

Lawmaker urges gov’t to develop public housing

Lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong has urged the local government to develop recovered land into public housing within the next five years. In his verbal inquiry to the local government, Ng cited the government’s statistics which point out that, in total, the local government has 77 pieces of recovered land on their hands, with 49 land plots that have already completed the recovery process. The government should give priority to public housing projects when developing these lands, according to Ng. In addition, the lawmaker also requested other measures to support living and property purchasing mechanisms for Macau within the next five years, including the establishment of a points-based public housing waiting list and the reservation of land in order to supply houses for local residents when they need to move into new properties.

More full-time athletes, better pay wanted

Lawmaker Song Pei Kei wants more Macau residents to devote themselves to being full-time athletes. In her interpellation to the local government, Song said that Macau has only 20 people across 20 fields involved in full-time sports and that this number is still too small. The local government is paying athletes who receive professional training 15,000 Macau patacas, and non-professional athletes 5,000 patacas. In Song’s opinion, the salaries are obviously not attractive when compared to the salaries in other sectors. Song wants the local government to review the relevant measures. In the long-term, the lawmaker hopes the local government will invest more in resources, spaces, and trainers to develop higher sporting standards for Macau.