Customs increase surveillance along coastline

The Customs Service is installing additional surveillance systems along Macau’s coastlines, which is expected to be completed by 2019, according to a report released yesterday by TDM.

The Head of the Department of Maritime Inspection (DIM) of Customs, Leong Wa Kan, explained that the customs authority plans to install more surveillance equipment along Macau’s coastline and that the plan is currently still being  developed.

However, as the proposed system will be located along the coastline, issues concerning electricity and circulation structures need to be taken into account quite seriously.

When these additional surveillance systems have been constructed, the DIM’s customs work efficiency is expected to improve in regards to combating smuggling.

Customs employees who will no longer be needed at some of the coastline customs stations will be forwarded to other ports, according to Leong.

Leong informed that the Customs force is short in terms of frontline workers. In the future, besides recruiting more members and buying new patrol boats, Customs also plans to purchase relatively large unmanned aerial vehicles for conducting ordinary patrols. This will reduce the working pressure on Customs officers, as well as enhance marine search and rescue capabilities, and improve the procedures to combat smuggling.

Leong hopes that the new Customs staff and equipment can be organized within five years.