Of the total number of public opinions that the local government has received from the local community, traditional means of input now only represent approximately 20%, representing a major shift online.
During yesterday’s Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary session, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon explained, in the context of the latest e-governance bill, that these opinions include most petitions submitted by local associations to different government departments. Most of the city’s associations chose to submit opinions printed on paper to the government.
By contrast, the majority of the members of the public have been voicing their opinions to the local government through emails and phone call inquiries.
Cheong’s comment, which came during the lawmakers’ discussion on the e-governance bill, was in reply to lawmaker Sulu Sou’s enquiry that suggested Macau’s e-governance was “lagging behind” the rest of the world. Sou also pointed out that on the website of the Chief Executive’s office and the city’s five secretaries, no email addresses are published for the public to send opinions.
Sou further proposed that the local government should not simply use e-methods to carry out ‘one-way propaganda’ but should also seek public opinion.
The Secretary said that Macau’s public departments have already developed many online-services and that, with this new bill, the already existing e-services will see improvements. Moreover, according to the Secretary, once this bill comes into effect, it will facilitate the local government in collecting public opinion through electronic methods.
In addition, the Secretary is certain that “this bill can solve the problem” of the wasted effort of many members of the public who submit documents and complete public services procedures online to only eventually be requested to submit paper documents through traditional channels to government departments.
“The government will certainly make it easier,” said Cheong.
Currently, members of the public can find specific public services on different government websites depending on the nature of each service. Services within a specific government department can only be found on that department’s website.
The local government hopes to create a centralized website system which integrates all basic public services into one single platform.
Cheong explained that the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) will serve as the coordinator of all basic public services, meaning that this bureau will be responsible for integrating all the basic public services into the one online platform. Cheong hopes that this centralized platform will be easier and save time for members of the public.
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