Lawmakers grill gov’t over corruption and misuse of funds

A group of lawmakers made use of the period before the agenda of yesterday’s plenary session of the Legislative Assembly (AL) to ask the executive questions about the recently released reports from the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) as well as news that former director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) Li Canfeng, has been detained and is accused of corruption and abuse of power.

Leong Sun Iok, Wong Kit Cheng, Ella Lei, Song Pek Kei, Lei Leong Wong, José Pereira Coutinho and Ron Lam presented separate spoken inquiries to the government on the matter.

Ella Lei

Front and center was last week’s release of a report by the CCAC implicating the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) over the management of the Education Development Fund (FDE).

In the report, the CCAC criticized the weak performance of the governing body in relation to the reviewing, vetting, and approving of grants to schools allocated by the fund, using the same characterization for its post-grant supervision.

Several lawmakers expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation, particularly because the same fund had been targeted with a similar audit report in the past.

Song Pek Kei

“Back in 2015, an audit report revealed the existence of such problems, but the competent services did not make improvements following the recommendations [of the Commission of Audit (CA) report]. Therefore, this time it can be considered a repeated mistake, which not only causes damage to the public purse but also affects society’s trust in the government,” lawmaker Song said in her speech.

The lawmakers also voiced added concerns about the fact that the AL is currently discussing a new legal regime that aims to merge three funds, including the FDE, into a single account. Lawmakers now fear this process could make flaws and mismanagement more likely, with bigger impact and misuse of public money.

Addressing the same case from a different angle, Lam noted that the problem with the FDE is structural, and that the issues revealed in the Commission of Audit (CA) report in 2015 had, in practice, a negative effect as they aggravated the distancing of the fund from its original purpose.

“Over the years, the education sector and teachers have criticized the cumbersome procedures for assessing and authorizing applications for grants from the fund, which represent less than 10 percent of total free-education subsidies, and believe it to be a waste of resources. However, the CA and the CCAC reports criticized the government’s inspections for not meeting legal requirements. In my view, the government and society must pay attention to and solve the structural problems of these subsidies, otherwise, they will reoccur,” Lam stated.

Previously, lawmaker Leong had remarked on the case of the former DSSOPT chief, in which he is alleged to have received significant benefits from businessmen.

While expressing his confidence that judicial authorities will investigate and judge this case “with independence and impartiality,” and adopting a “zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption activities,” the lawmaker also noted that the case is especially concerning because it is the second time that high officials connected to public works have been arrested for alleged involvement in corruption.

“I urge the government to reflect on the matter, as we have already had a Secretary and two directors from the public works sector practice acts of corruption and fraud. The government must carry out a review of current works for the land concessions and public works, reinforcing the supervision and transparency of the procedures for assessment and authorization, especially regarding the areas where acts of corruption can easily occur, as gaps must be filled,” Leong said.

Pereira Coutinho

Addressing the same case, Pereira Coutinho reaffirmed the need for the government to establish a system that protects and encourages whistleblowers so as to prevent cases of corruption and abuse of power by high-ranked officials continuing for long periods until they eventually get reported by the CCAC.

Pereira Coutinho said that it is clear that many staff members from the DSSOPT knew what was happening but did not have a way to report the case without being subject to retaliation from their superiors. He called on the government to implement an internal whistleblower system to tackle the problem right from the start.

Wiretapping bill passes on first reading with one abstention

Ron Lam

The government’s new wiretapping bill was passed on its first reading yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL) by the vast majority of lawmakers. Only one lawmaker, Ron Lam, voted to abstain, claiming that there is a need for the government to provide more of a guarantee to the population that the law’s provisions would protect their privacy and that there are mechanisms in place to ensure that no unlawful uses occur.

“I voted [to abstain] not because I disagree with this bill, but because I think citizens cannot have enough guarantees [on privacy] and on the oversight [of the system], so I ask the government to do more to reinforce the confidence of the population including the data disclosure [of the number of wiretappings] and also on the wiretapping activities. I think citizens should have a way to appeal. […] Only if this happens will I support this bill,” Lam said in his vote declaration.

Wong Kit Cheng

Potential violations of privacy and ensuring lawful use of the system were the main concerns expressed during the debate on the bill. The Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, assured lawmakers that the regime to be implemented in Macau follows the strictest rules in the world for this type of law.

The Secretary noted on several occasions that most of the questions raised during the discussion of the bill, as well as during the public consultation, were not in fact problems, as he claimed they resulted from “misinterpretations” of the law and the regime’s purposes.

On a justifying note, the government also stated that the bill aims to update a regime that has been in force for over 24 years but is not compliant with new technologies and modern times.

The Secretary also said the law was related to “an increasingly complex security environment, namely the state’s security situation becoming more and more demanding.”

The new regime adds new crimes to those currently listed, namely crimes against the state security, terrorism, and others.

Other crimes added in which wiretapping is said to be fundamental as a means of proof include cybercrime, phone and internet scams, with the government stating that the new regime will facilitate the investigation of these types of crimes more effectively. RM