Islands district advisor suggests Hengqin checkpoint operate under T8

A municipal affairs advisor has suggested normal operations for the Hengqin Border checkpoint under typhoon signal number eight or higher.

Advisor Si Lai Kuan, who is also deputy executive director at the Macau United Citizens Association, suggested the governments of Macau and Hengqin consider opening the Hengqin checkpoint even under extreme weather circumstances.

She supported her plan by saying that, under typhoon signal eight or higher, land border checkpoints on the Macau side remain in normal operation, but not the Hengqin checkpoint, causing inconvenience to those needing to return to mainland China through the checkpoint. Under typhoon signal eight or higher, public transport is suspended. Taxi drivers have the discretion to decide whether to operate.

The lawyer added that, with the completion of the bridges between the Hengqin border and the University of Macau, as well as the future operations of the Light Rapid Transit to Hengqin, conditions for normal operation of the checkpoint exist.

Meanwhile, advisor Vong Vai Tin, regular deputy president of the Four Temples Charity Association of Coloane, pointed out that the confusion around taxi services under typhoon signal eight or higher will jeopardize Macau’s image as a tourism destination.

Apart from increasing the number of taxis, residents and tourists should also be advised to limit outdoor movement under such weather circumstances, he said. In addition, he suggested the government take the lead in inaugurating a digital taxi-hiring platform to compensate for the lack of available taxis.

Information to tourists about weather conditions and service suspensions should also be improved, the advisor added.