Institution of People’s Alliance celebrates eighth anniversary

The Macau Institution of People’s Alliance held a ceremony last week to celebrate its eighth anniversary.
Lionel Leong, Secretary for Economy and Finance, and Raimundo do Rosário, Secretary for Transport and Public Works, together with other governmental officials and lawmakers, offered their congratulations to the group for its anniversary.
Si Ka Lon, lawmaker and chairman of the association, pointed out during the ceremony that the “government should do a good job with the Taipa section of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and should also solve the problems with the Urban Renewal Council (CRU).”

Si Ka Lon

The LRT was originally slated to commence operations this year, but due to the delayed construction, it is likely to be operational by 2019. The newly established CRU has 27 members and 21 of them must be members of the public. However, the more than half of the 21 are from the commercial sector. Local people fear that an over-representation of commercial interests could
transform the CRU into a champion of developers’ causes.
Regarding the city’s five-
year plan, Lon urged the government to establish “a strong and powerful system of leadership and cooperation” in order to achieve the goals set out in the plan. “Cross-department cooperation must see major breakthroughs,” declared Si.
Chan Tek Seng, president of the association, also delivered a speech at the event. He noted that the group has more than 20,000 members, and that its cumulative number of services exceeds one million. “The association will insist on loving the country, on loving Macau, and on supporting the government’s policies,” revealed Chan.
Established in 2008, the organization has a large number of members. It  also owns two medical centers, and runs more than 60 house-owner committees and seven special committees, which provide services such as medical care and youth support.