On the lawmakers’ agenda

HEALTH MATTERS Health is the population’s greatest concern, according to lawmaker Si Ka Lon. At yesterday’s plenary meeting, the lawmaker focused on the lack of human resources in the public and not-for-profit healthcare units.
He believes that this has worsened since the government implemented a new method to reduce patients’ waiting time for healthcare appointments. This year the Health Bureau announced it would be implementing a new scheme, through which eligible Macau residents are given subsidies to access Kiang Wu or non-profit healthcare units for external medical appointments.
“According to one of those units their human resources are limited, and now with this new measure the situation has worsened,” said Si, adding that the Health Bureau is hiring 528 new healthcare professionals, but other smaller units face challenges in recruitment since they cannot compete with public health care system salaries. The lawmaker urged the government to provide an estimate for the number of healthcare professionals Macau will need, as a new public hospital is under development. Finally, he asked the government to consider granting subsidies to healthcare professionals, namely physicians and nurses, who work for non-profit healthcare units.

TRANSPORT WOES Song Pek Kei and Chan Meng Kam have called on the government to take responsibility for the city’s transportation system problems in a joint spoken enquiry. Lawmakers criticized the continuous delays on LRT construction, and urged the government to “improve its administrative efficiency,” particularly now that several department chiefs have left the Transportation Infrastructure Office. They believe that the delay on the construction of the LRT depot in Taipa is an even bigger issue. “This is a serious delay which will affect the LRT’s opening date,” they said. “All public services involved are included on the Secretary for Transport and Public Works’ portfolio, so he should coordinate and reinforce cooperation between these services in the name of public interest.”

FOOD SAFETY Melinda Chan called again on the government to improve food safety measures, after an inspection found bacteria on frozen smoked salmon imported into Macau. Ms Chan suggested the government draft extra regulations providing food safety criteria. She also called for a review of IACM’s work in the food safety field. She believes that IACM cannot only rely on inspections conducted in the food products’ country of origin. Melinda Chan believes Macau should also conduct inspections here before these products reach supermarket shelves. The lawmaker also suggested the establishment of a Food Safety Experts Council, through which professionals could monitor and assess food safety risks, while also launching investigations into food safety incidents.