Father of injured boy wins case against gov’t

Thomas Lawson being assisted at the hospital (L); The place where the incident occurred (R)

The father of a boy who suffered a severe injury at Hac Sa beach in 2012 recently won the court case he filed against the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM).

Keith Lawson recalled to the Times that his son Thomas Lawson (Tommy) had been playing at the beach. His child, who was then eight years old, had jumped onto the sand, which was concealing a concrete block with four pieces of rebar sticking up.

As the Times reported previously, one of the metal spikes went straight through his foot to protrude above his ankle.

Lawson suggested that the metal rod was part of the debris left behind on the beach by government employees or contractors, presumably after the demolition of the old structures whilst the new sea wall was being erected at Hac Sa.

After the accident, the father contacted the IACM to inform them of the incident and hoped they would inspect the area.

As there are limited playgrounds in the territory, Lawson was worried that it could also happen to other children who play at the beach, which led him to report the incident to the IACM. “As sort of public duty, we [asked] IACM [if] they’re going to take responsibility and clean up the beach, at which the reply was no, they’re not going to,” he told the Times.

Lawson clarified that he informed the government entity they would be forced to take it to court if no action was taken – to which the IACM allegedly did not respond.

The court case began in 2014 and the verdict was given two years later. The court found in favor of the father and awarded him approximately MOP80,000 along with the reimbursement of his son’s medical bills, which amounted to approximately MOP1,500. The compensation was collected on November 14.

“We have said that whatever monies left over from what we’re awarded, and after legal costs, we will give the balance to charity,” he explained.

According to Lawson, his son decided to donate the remaining amount of money (after deducting the court fees) to the Fountain of Hope Association, a community for orphans and children in care.

He added that their retained law firm would also donate part of their legal fees to the charity, to demonstrate that the legal action they took was not for profit but for public safety.

When questioned about his initial reaction on the IACM’s alleged non-action, Lawson said it was a feeling of “slight disbelief.”

“Because this is a matter of public safety and our belief is that the government is here to provide safe infrastructure for the people to live and prosper […] we felt they were hiding behind politics,” said Lawson.

“They weren’t taking their duty very responsibly. […] At least we hope that by speaking up and doing something that they would actually cause them to reexamine and take actions on this on the issue of the beach,” he stressed.

According to the message that came down to the court, four departments share joint responsibility for the beach.

Lawson emphasized that they had visited the beach in the summer and had still found pieces of rebar and debris beneath the sand. This led him to believe that the government has failed to take the case seriously.

“And for that reason I think it’s right to raise the issue again. They may have paid out and may have lost the court case but now what we would like to know is what they’re going to do about it,” he lamented.

According to Lawson, Tommy suffered psychological damage as he has become wary of taking part in sporting events.

The father cited his belief that the government is capable of providing a safe environment for its citizens. He commented on how the MSAR is “very overprotective” in many areas in town.

“They seem to take public safety very seriously which is why we can’t quite work out why they have not taken this very [case] seriously. It’s bit of a puzzle. But I think perhaps maybe it’s politics,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government is not necessarily obliged by the court to do something about the case as they were only held guilty of incompetence.

“I think the terminology was something like ‘incompetent’. They found them guilty of incompetence,” Lawson reaffirmed.

He also stressed that Macau’s beach is a relatively small area for authorities to keep clean and safe.

“They work for the people [and] that’s their job. And I think that sometimes they totally forget about that,” he criticized. “If they can’t do that, they shouldn’t be doing the job. […] Just do it, clean up and stop acting like it’s somebody else’s responsibility.”