Policy Address | Sonia Chan: Restructuring of public services ‘is a complex task’

Sonia Chan (center)

The restructuring and reshuffling of public services is yet again a priority for the Secretary for Administration and Justice’s Office. Sonia Chan presented her cabinet’s action plan for 2015 yesterday, noting that the restructuring of government departments “is a complex task.”
Lawmakers were keen to learn further details of Ms Chan’s plans at yesterday’s Legislative Assembly plenary meeting, namely regarding the restructuring of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), as some of its duties are due to be reassigned to the Sports Development Board (ID) and the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC).
Ms Chan, however, did not provide lawmakers with any comprehensive details on her plans for administrative reform, asking instead for their understanding, as “the restructuring is a difficult and complex task comprising of many functions, services and facilities, as well as [a comprehensive amount of] legislation.”
“For the sports area alone, there are at least six laws or regulations involved,” she added.
In her initial speech, Ms Chan pledged to progressively implement measures to reorganize human resources within the different government departments while also simplifying administrative procedures.
“[We] will provide clarification on the distribution of powers and responsibilities, while coordinating and simplifying procedures, reducing not only investment in resources but also improving the overall government performance,” she stated.
Similar to last year’s debate with then-Secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan, lawmakers again voiced their concerns regarding overlapping services and functions within several public departments.
“There are several similar services being provided by different departments (…) [By] the end of 2015, we’ll be reaching 35,000 civil servants, which represents about 8.8 percent of Macau’s workforce. Expenditure [for] personnel continues to rise and is not likely that this will change,” lawmaker Ho Ion Sang stated.
Legislator Kou Hoi In also stressed that some of these issues have dragged on since Macau’s handover. “How can we properly reassign staff [within the different services]? The number of civil servants is reaching 35,000 but how can we solve or ease some of these problems? We should focus on improving quality. The most important thing isn’t reducing or firing employees. We need to optimize the number of civil servants: some services might not need that many workers. We need to control the overall number of civil servants,” he reiterated.
Victor Kwan likewise added, “We know IACM is a public department that was subjected to restructuring, but its duties are very broad. I don’t know what the nature of this public service is. What kind of duties and powers does IACM have and how does it execute its powers?”
Sonia Chan told lawmakers that the government will take measures to boost civil servants’ morale, and also work on a proposal to serve as a reference for the administrative reform. “We are hoping to first restructure IACM, transferring some of its tasks to ID and IC. And then we will restructure the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ), and after that, the Law Reform and International Law Bureau,” she added.
Ms Chan hinted that the government will not take too long to implement its restructuring plan for IACM and DSAJ. “The restructuring of these two entities will be conducted this year. It won’t take too long. When it comes to staff, employees’ rights will not be harmed,” she stressed.
Ms Chan revealed that a specialized committee has been created to study the optimization of public services. She stressed that the implementation of a restructuring and reshuffling plan cannot take away from the overall services provided to Macau’s population. “We cannot reduce the number [of civil servants] in some particular services, for instance, for the new border checkpoint planned.”
“However, [the government] will only increase the number of public servants if needed.” Ms Chan added that the administration will unify civil servants’ rights and working conditions.
The secretary revealed that her cabinet is conducting an overall study regarding public services and examining which role the legal services could play in their restructuring.
Sonia Chan was the first to present her action plan following the chief executive’s delivery of the Policy Address on Monday. Lawmakers today will continue to discuss Ms Chan’s cabinet policies. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, will attend the AL’s plenary meeting on Monday to discuss his action plan for this year.

municipal body to help macau become a ‘center and platform’

Sonia Chan unveiled a few more details on the establishment of a municipal body holding no political power, which was announced by the CE on Monday. Asked by lawmakers to provide details of the body’s duties and composition, Ms Chan recalled that an inter-departmental group will be created to study its establishment. “This can help Macau [in its goal to become] a center and a platform,” she said, adding that its main duties are ultimately centered on “serving Macau’s population and working as a consultative body providing opinions to the government.” “Upon creating this entity, we will take into consideration similar duties already performed by other [public] departments. We haven’t yet come up with a concrete plan, but when we do, we will provide further details,” Ms Chan concluded.

gov’t ponders building food market in nape

Lawmakers yesterday voiced their concerns over food safety issues, recalling several incidents with imported goods last year. Sonia Chan pledged to work on the prevention of these incidents by improving the inspection and supervision mechanisms of food produce brought to Macau. The president of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Alex Vong, also revealed that the government is investigating the possibility of building a new food market in the NAPE area.