Lawmaker Che Sai Wang, linked with the Macau Civil Servants’ Association (ATFPM), insists that the government should distribute another 8,000 patacas in livelihood subsidy as residents continue to face difficulties resulting from the three-year pandemic period.
Che’s call for governmental support to citizens was done yesterday in the period before the agenda of the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly.
In a spoken inquiry, the lawmaker noted that while the unemployment rate has declined when compared to the peak period of the pandemic, the situation continues to be appalling when compared to the pre-pandemic period, he said, noting that over the period of three years not only many residents lost their jobs but also saw their incomes being reduced while expenses rise.
For the lawmaker, the economic recovery, although noticed, it is still a long process, adding, “it will take some time before supply and demand for human resources can return to normal.”
He remarked that given the confidence of the government that the gaming results will hit the target of 130 billion patacas in gaming revenue for this year, the authorities “should consider distributing to the population, as soon as possible, the cash handouts of the wealth partaking scheme of this year and continue to distribute the livelihood subsidy in the amount of 8,000 patacas, to consolidate the foundations for economic recovery, allowing residents, micro and small and medium enterprises to effectively sustain themselves while working for the aimed economic recovery.
Last year the government has anticipated the distribution of the cash handouts that in the past used to take place during the summer holidays season in the second semester of the year. For this year, the Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng announced that such a scheme to continue during the policy address for 2023, late last year, but refused to advance on a date for the distribution of the money.
