Federation of Transportation suggests higher fines

Lawmaker Ella Lei

The Macao Federation of Transportation (AGERTM), an association part of the Macao Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM), yesterday visited the Traffic Department of the Public Security Police Force (PSP) to call for stricter law enforcement on illegal drivers.

The group, which included lawmakers Ella Lei and Leong Sun Iok, met with police authorities to call for more law enforcement in order to tackle the proliferation of illegal drivers operating in Macau.

Among the group’s complaints were the fact that the punishment for such infringement is “too light” and that only a small number of cases are reported.

Both the president of AGERTM and lawmaker Lei spoke to the media addressing such concerns. Lei noted that according to official statistics, the number of cases reported have been growing, considering the works of the authorities not sufficient to deter illegal drivers.

According to the lawmaker, in 2017 there were 73 cases, a number that grew to 78 in the following year. In just the first two months of this year, the police have already recorded 19 cases of illegal drivers.

The lawmaker also recalled that the government promised to establish a permanent inspection mechanism to deal with the problem.

A representative of the local drivers said that the illegal and unqualified drivers lack knowledge about local roads and traffic rules, which endangers the public’s personal safety and “harms the livelihood of local professional drivers.”

The representative added that, if in the past most of the problems occurred with only heavy-vehicles and the transport of goods, now the problem is widespread enough to affect all kinds of vehicles and in both goods and passenger transportation.

Following yesterday’s visit to the PSP, the group is planning a meeting with DSAL officials, an entity responsible for investigating and punishing employers who hire illegal workers.