The Fire Services Bureau (CB) has handled a total of 240 cases related to the falling of debris from buildings in 2021, as per CB’s statistical information provided to the Times.
According to the CB, the number of cases in 2021 represented a significant decline when compared year-on-year with 2020.
“We handled a total of 240 cases relating to the fall of debris from buildings in 2021. In the previous year [2020], we carried out a total of 300 operations of this kind, representing a year-on-year decrease of 60 cases in 2021,” a CB spokesperson told the Times. The figure cited represents a drop of 20%.
Potentially accountable for the drop in the number of cases might be the fact that in 2021, Macau was spared from major weather-related events, namely strong typhoons, that can catalyze incidents of this kind in buildings with various weaknesses.
Other causes, besides the age of the buildings, include the quality of materials used, construction methods, and the usage of the building.
Although having fewer cases do not represent less severity in terms of consequences, and while the CB has no statistics quantifying damage caused by the fallen debris, it was possible to assess the situation through the content of complaints received from several citizens. These included damage caused to vehicles and other assets due to falling tiles, cement, and concrete pieces from buildings, namely those located in the oldest parts of the city.
Specialists previously consulted by the Times on a separate occasion pointed out that temperature differences can also be an important factor. The start of the hotter weather or the switch to cooler temperatures can be the most dangerous times of the year for this problem due to the expansion or contraction of the materials on the buildings.
