Group petitions against reappointment of municipal advisory board members

Rocky Chan, Deputy Director-General of the New Macau Association

The government has broken the recommendation mechanism for a municipal advisory board, Rocky Chan, Deputy Director-General of the New Macau Association (ANM), told a press conference yesterday.
In addition, Chan also criticized the government for neglecting the years-long public requests on elected municipal affairs representatives.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has recently reappointed the same group of 25 people as members of the Consultative Committee on Municipal Affairs. They were appointed for the first time in 2018 by the then government head, Chui Sai On.
The committee debuted back then as an advisory body for the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), which was restructured and renamed from its predecessor, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, in 2019.
Accusing the committee for not satisfactorily delivering its work, Chan cited several examples, namely the artificial circumnavigation promenade at Sai Van Lake, tedious requirements for clearing up pet excretions, the omission of the Trap-Neuter-Release mechanism, the infringement of the
Mid-Autumn festive light decoration, preservation of a distinguished industrial site, as well as the installation of lighting on the Taipa Grande. The last project raised worries that it will endanger the livelihood of glowworms.
During the legislative discussions and debate on the structure of the IAM, the ANM and lawmaker Sulu Sou have voiced their objection on a fully appointed committee that, in their words, does not represent and is not held responsible to the general public. They called for members to be elected.
At the end of the day, a mechanism has been added to allow recommendations and self-recommendations. However, the recommendation procedure has concluded with mainly individuals from traditional community associations, which normally are considered pro-establishment.
Before the reappointment of the committee members, there has been no recommendation or self-recommendation procedure.
Chan described the lack of recommendation process as “the government is not even willing to stage a soap opera,” continuously putting the municipal democracy of the city behind.
Moreover, the meeting sessions of the committee have been conducted in a closed-door manner, obstructing the rights of the public to be fully informed of the discussions, hindering transparency of the meetings that directly cause impact on the livelihood of the general public.
To support the view, Chan cited the proposed construction of a crematorium in Taipa back in 2018, which incited objections from the public. Chan explained that the decision-making process has not involved the general public.
Among the 25 reappointed members, there is Chan Pou Sam, who has previously called for the government to rename local street names with Portuguese connotations or colors so as to decolonize the city. Chan is a vice president of the Jiangmen Communal Society.
In addition, there are Chan Ka Leong and Leong Hong Sai from the Neighborhood Association, Chio Lan Ieng from the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, Cristina Ho from The Women’s General Association of Macau, Lei Leong Wong from the Macau United Citizens Association, Cheong Ka Man from the Macao New Chinese Youth Association, as well as Lei Sio Chou from the General Association of Chinese Students of Macao.