ExCo | Maritime Areas Basic Law bans all gaming activities

The new Maritime Areas Basic Law bill includes a legal provision that prevents any of the possible construction projects within the the 85-square-kilometer area from being used for any gaming-related activities, the spokesperson of the Executive Council (ExCo) Leong Heng Teng stated yesterday during a press conference held by ExCo. The spokesperson also informed that the council has concluded the analysis on the aforementioned bill and that it is ready to be sent to the Legislative Assembly (AL) for review.

Questioned on the topic, Leong reaffirmed, “there will be no exceptions [regarding the gaming sector].”

Leong noted that although the law applies only for future developments to be approved in the new maritime areas, “in principle for the current [sites, approved and being built] they are also not expected [to take part in] any development involving gaming.”

According to Leong, this is a matter of “very clear policy” from the government that is “safeguarding with a law that [a policy change] does not happen afterwards.”

Questioned on whether such a provision was an initiative from the local government or an imposed directive from the Central Government, Leong said, “this started from the government of the MSAR. We want to legislate in this way. It was not a demand from the Central Government.”

The provision is included under one of the five main sections of the law, namely that related to the Management of the Maritime Areas. This law establishes unequivocally that the maritime areas are a “property of the State” and that the MSAR government exercises authority over such areas “through the delegation of powers,” as well as having the obligation to inspect all activities taking place within them.

The bill also states that the supervision of the Maritime Areas works would be the responsibility of the Coordinating Committee for Management and Development of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas; a committee created by the government and headed by the Chief Executive that is responsible for the definition of the policy, holding second level decision-making powers over the work done by the entities involved. These include; the Legal Affairs Bureau, Marine and Water Bureau, the Environmental Protection Bureau, the Macao Government Tourism Office and the Economic Bureau.

Leong said the bill would now be sent immediately to the AL for discussion, review and approval. Leong continued by saying that he hopes “the AL can accelerate the process,” but qualified that it “is not a matter of urgency as the legal package we have now allows us to manage [the areas, to some extent].”

‘Much work’ to be done ahead of new bill

During yesterday’s press conference at the government’s headquarters, the spokesperson of the Executive Council (ExCo) Leong Heng Teng informed the audience that there are a total of 47 legal texts that are currently under consideration, and they will be changed to optimize their alignment with the new “Maritime Areas Basic Law.”

He said that there was “much work” to be done on the new law in order to to implement it fully, affirming that all relevant departments are currently working hard to proceed with the necessary adjustments.
In this way, Leong justified that there is not a great urgency in approving the bill at the Legislative Assembly (AL), although he said that the government hopes the completion will be accomplished in a short amount of time.

The ExCo also noted that the document was prepared according to the current rules in force in the mainland and that it has gathered support during the public consultation. With this support, the Council proposed that the law should enter into force on the day after it is approved. RM