Former governor Carlos Melancia passes away at 95

Carlos Melancia, former governor of Macau, passed away Sunday at the age of 95 in Lisbon, Portugal. Melancia was one of the last governors of Macau, serving the city between 1987 to 1991.

As the governor of Macau, he focused on the development of social security and the creation of large infrastructures such as the airport, a project that was involved in the case that would take him to court.

He was accused of having received about 250,000 euros from a German company to influence a tender related to the construction of the airport. However, the project was never granted to the said company. Melancia has always denied the allegations.

The case became known as the Macau Fax Case, after a headline of defunct Portuguese weekly O Independente broke the news.

In 2002, more than a decade after his dismissal, a Lisbon high court finally acquitted Melancia because the existence of the bribe was not proven.

With a degree in Engineering, he served as Minister of Industry and Technology (1976–1978) and Minister of the Sea (1983–1985) before his appointment in Macau by late President of Portugal Mário Soares. 

Governor Melancia was one of the first Western politicians to visit Beijing after June 4, 1989.

Carlos Montez Melancia was born in Alpiarça on August 21, 1927. He died last Sunday (Oct. 23, 2022) at the São José Hospital in Lisbon, where he was rushed to after a fall and other health complications.

LV