A statement from the Transport Bureau (DSAT) in response to an MDT exclusive report on abandoned cars in Macau on Friday has insisted that the organization regularly remove abandoned vehicles from public streets.
According to DSAT, regular and routine inspections are conducted of public streets in conjunction with reports from the public “to enhance a better and reasonable usage of public parking resources.”
Last year the number of abandoned cars or vehicles with cancelled registrations amounted to 4,830 according to the records of DSAT, marking an increase of 23.3 percent over those recorded in 2014. Among the vehicles detected, DSAT staff on patrol found 523, the public reported 162, and other public service departments transferred 1,208 vehicles to the bureau. Meanwhile a further 2,937 vehicles’ registrations were “cancelled” by their owners, revealed the bureau.
In regards to Penha Hill, which has become a popular spot for abandoned or long-term parked vehicles, DSAT said that they have already received reports from the public and have been sending staff to investigate as recently as last month.
“Besides the abandoned vehicles and the vehicles without a valid circulation tax seal, the bureau also found some vehicles covered with cloth which made it impossible to verify the situation,” wrote DSAT in their response. “Such cases were reported to the police for follow-up action.”
While visiting the Penha Hill site last week, a Times reporter heard a street cleaner who claimed that the vehicles had been parked there by car workshops that “park them here until they are needed and then they come and take one and leave another in its place.”
Additionally the Times came across a truck and three staff members of DSAT on-site, though they were apparently not performing any tasks related to these vehicles.
In their statement, DSAT also urged vehicle owners that if they plan to cancel a vehicle’s registration, they should proceed to the reception area of DSAT with the identification document, the original vehicle registration document, a document for the disposal of the vehicle and a copy of the property registration of the vehicle for the relevant procedures.
Until such a time when DSAT can remove the vehicles in question, the owner should park in a legal parking space on a public road and “pay the parking fees until the car is removed to avoid being fined for infringement of traffic regulations.”
Residents complained to the Times last week that illegally-parked cars in Taipa were contributing to the “visual pollution of a natural place.” Some of those vehicles had clearly been stationed there for some time as there were plants growing around them.
The areas of complaint included Penha Hill and the Taipa Pequena Trail. Similar complaints were leveled against Hac Sa beach’s public car park in December 2014, where many cars were suspected of being stored as a means of disposal. Meters were later installed for most of the car park and the abandoned vehicles relocated elsewhere. DB
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