Policy Address | Social Affairs and Culture – Hospital design projects to be concluded in Aug–Sept

Alexis Tam (center)

Alexis Tam revealed yesterday that the projects related to the construction of the future Islands Hospital will be concluded in August or September. The hospital is to be located on a site adjacent to the Seac Pai Van Reservoir on the Estrada do Istmo.
The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture was at the Legislative Assembly for a second day to present the policy address for the areas that he supervises. He said that a plan to train the medical staff who will work at the new health facility will start mid-year, once the hospital’s design projects are concluded. According to information released previously, the hospital will be based on a 706-bed-capacity complex.
“We have a human resources plan for the [Islands] hospital. I made it clear when I was sworn in that we must develop the heath infrastructure and the hardware, as well as enhance the staff’s quality and the software,” Alexis Tam said. The secretary acknowledged that the salaries paid to doctors are not attractive enough to “hire doctors with a very, very high quality. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t hire them. We will.” He said that he will take part in meetings in Beijing next week to meet with mainland health authorities in order “to bring high-quality doctors to Macau.” The secretary argued that Macau should set up a medical faculty, “but not now.” The current focus should be on post-graduate studies in order to train specialized and differentiated doctors.
During the debate, lawmaker Pereira Coutinho argued that the biggest problem of the health system was the lack of hospital beds, which leads to difficulties for hospitals in accepting patients and then to the overcrowding of emergency wards. He raised concerns over the state of affairs, alluding to the appointment of Kuok Cheong U as the director of the Conde de São Januário Central Hospital (CHCSJ): “Everything seems to be well according to the Health Bureau director, because he will only stay in the post for one year; then [he will be replaced by] Mr Kuok,” he said.
The Health Bureau (SSM) director Lei Chin Ion admitted once again that the bureau’s predictions were wrong. He said that the new emergency department of the CHCSJ “is three times bigger” than the previous facilities, and was expected to cater for the needs during the coming five years. However, the influx of visitors during the CNY caused strain to the services. “I don’t know where so many patients are coming from,” the SSM director remarked, adding that the number of people who resort to doctors in the public system is much higher in Macau than in Singapore or Hong Kong.
There was curiosity, following the announcement made on Monday, over the fact that the government has had several meetings with mainland authorities in order to buy land in Hengqin Island and set up social services there. Lawmaker Si Ka Lon inquired: “The spaces in Hengqin are going to be paid for by Macau, but will they only be made available for local residents or also to the Zhuhai population?”
Alexis Tam repeated what he said on the first day of his policy address presentation, saying that the model of the Hengqin land acquisition is still being defined. “If the land is bought by us, we can define how it’s going to be used. It is a very interesting model; the government can be the adjudicator and organize public tender to lease those lands to private companies,” he revealed.
Several lawmakers raised the theme of technical-professional schooling, noting that the local students clearly prefer to undertake university degrees. As a result, several types of technicians are lacking, while bachelor holders are in excess. Alexis Tam attributed the phenomenon to a certain “Chinese traditional mentality” that he considered limitative. “We must avoid those limitations and articulate ourselves with the world. In Europe, the carpenters earn almost as much as a bachelor holder. They don’t need to have a degree to earn quite well. We must trace that path,” he said, adding that local institutions like the Macau Polytechnic Institute and the Institute for Tourism Studies are organizing suitable programs.

Swimming pool open all year

The secretary reiterated that the Hotel Estoril is going to be rebuilt as a youth center for arts education. But he added that the swimming pool adjacent to the hotel will also undergo major changes. “The pool will be open all year long and will have warm water,” he said.

Lack of ‘leisure places’ and tourist info

Leonel Alves gave the examples of several world capitals to illustrate the need to “create leisure places” in order to attract tourists. These places include facilities such as esplanades, where tourists could enjoy the outdoors. Noting that the high rents are almost prohibitive for those spaces in Macau, the Macanese lawmaker said that “the public initiative could replace the private” in these cases. He suggested that kiosks should be set up in order to cater for tourists, disseminating books and information about Macau.