Lawmakers’ agenda

E-voucher 2021: Lawmaker Zheng Anting has proposed that the government continue issuing e-vouchers in 2021. Zheng said that many local residents are not optimistic about the health of next year’s economy. Therefore, extending the e-voucher scheme to 2021 will help boost Macau’s domestic consumption. In his opinion, even though mainland China has already resumed issuing tourism visas, the Covid-19 situation in Macau’s neighboring regions is discouraging visitors from traveling to Macau. Zheng expects Macau’s economy to take some time to recover. He also believes that Macau should expedite the development of further infrastructure projects to create more jobs, reduce the unemployment rate, and in turn promote the future of the energy, transport, telecommunication, and infrastructure-related industries. In addition, Zheng urged the government to seize opportunities to work with Guangdong, especially Hengqin, as a means of diversifying Macau’s economy.

Tourism circuit-breaker: Lawmaker Chui Sai Peng is worried about the negative impact to Macau in case mainland China triggers its circuit-breaker mechanism. Mainland China is prepared to suspend the issuing of tourism visas at any moment should both Macau and mainland China’s Covid-19 situation worsen. The preparation for this suspension is called the circuit-breaker. Chui hopes that Macau will not suspend mainland visitors from visiting the territory simply because one individual is a confirmed Covid-19 case. A full circuit-breaker has an extreme impact on Macau. Chui recommends the local government to closely monitor the goods trade to avoid any possible Covid-19 virus transmission during their circulation in Macau’s market. Chui believes that the “safe and low case rate” in Macau is attractive to mainland visitors. Similar to Chui, lawmakers Ma Chi Seng and Davis Fong urged Macau to keep up the good work in combating Covid-19.

Spare land: Lawmakers Chan Hong and Agnes Lam have voiced their opinions on Macau’s spare land. Chan hopes that the Macau government can use more recovered land to build leisure and recreational spaces for the public instead of public housing. Recently, the government announced that it will build a 19,000 square meter leisure and activities park. The project will be the first in Macau to use waste elements, such as vehicle tires, by giving them a new life in an eco-friendly manner. Lam asked the government to answer the question: “[…] what measures and technologies will the local government use to make sure that the waste will not harm human health?” Citing other opinions, Lam wondered whether it is possible for the government to consider using part of the land plot to build parking lots, green zones, or other facilities.