In a public forum organized by the New Macau Association (ANM) yesterday at the Luís de Camões Garden, panel guests criticized local government officials for being “collectively irresponsible.” They also urged the administration to release a final budget and time frame for the LRT construction as soon as possible.
The forum was arranged to discuss the delay and budget blow-
out of the LRT project. Lam U Tou, vice-president of the Choi In Tong Sam Association, said that it is crucial for the Macau government to reveal the total cost of the project and the proposed route of the LRT phase one before the public can make a rational choice on how the route should be planned, or whether it is worth constructing the LRT at all.
Mr Lam also argued that there is a culture of “collective irresponsibility” among public servants, which led to their reluctance to make any decisions. “From the rank-and-file [public servants] to the mid-level to senior officials, nobody wants to make any decisions. Instead, all matters were reported to their superiors and the officials do not hold any opinions on any issues,” he said. “If this ‘collectively irresponsible’ culture is not corrected, the LRT construction will not be completed, even if you were to sack 100 officials.”
Moreover, Lam criticized the Macau government for failing to provide a general direction for the future of the Macau transportation system. “It wouldn’t matter if [Macau’s transportation] plans are to prioritize pedestrians, private vehicles, public transportation such as buses or the LRT. At least we would have a direction… Now, no matter whether we want to control the growth of vehicle numbers or improve the bus system, there is no direction,” he said.
Lam has called on the administration to come up with a new plan for Macau’s transportation system, to clarify the role of LRT, and to give higher priority to the residents who choose to walk.
Meanwhile, another panel guest, lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong, also urged the government to come up with an overall budget for the LRT construction. He said that before the government can legislate the proposed Budget Law, it should first create an official mechanism that focuses on monitoring the budget and progress of the LRT construction so that everybody can scrutinize the project. He said that this mechanism can also serve as a model so that other future construction projects can be scrutinized in the same manner after the proposed Budget Law has passed the Legislative Assembly (AL).
Furthermore, the lawmaker cited the thesis of the 2014 Nobel laureate, Jean Tirole, in calling for a second entity, namely the AL, to monitor the LRT construction, rather than solely relying on the Transportation Infrastructure Office.
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