Policy Address – Wong Sio Chak | Circulation of vehicles in Hengqin to be very limited

Wong Sio Chak (center)

More details about the scheme that will allow Macau-licensed cars to drive in Hengqin from December 20 were unveiled at the end of Wong Sio Chak’s presentation at the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday.

Replying to a question posed by lawmaker Chan Chak Mo, the Secretary for Security, said: “We have to fix some criteria, a connection with Zhuhai must exist, that is, [applicants must] have a life there or have investments there. We can’t have all the 250,000 vehicles of Macau going to Hengqin, the island does not support that and this would cause problems on the cross border point.”
The new measure has been an ongoing topic of discussion between the MSAR, the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Zhuhai Municipal Government, via the established cooperation mechanisms.

Final arrangements for the scheme are apparently being defined this week and will be disclosed soon. Pressured by lawmakers, Wong said that authorities in Hengqin are willing to “create a graduated scheme, based on a limited number of vehicles,” he said replying to the added pressure on the border checkpoints.

“We hope that after tomorrow’s meeting [with Zhuhai Governor] we can have more information to reveal,” added Wong remarking that the graduated scheme will have at least two phases and that there will be an evaluation of the results of each phase that will lead to the measures to adopt for the next stage.

During yesterday’s debate at the AL, lawmaker Tong had also been questioned on the possibility of opening a new “entry” to be located at the campus of the University of Macau (UM) in order to relieve the pressure over the Lotus Flower Checkpoint.

“Regarding the possibility of opening a new ‘door’ into UM, this decision is not under our [control] and we cannot be the ones deciding on that,” replied the Secretary, adding that such a measure would violate the agreement established between the SAR and mainland authorities regarding the concession of the Hengqin land area to the region.

This was one of the many topics in discussion during the second day of the question and answer session with the Secretary for Security held at the AL yesterday.

The second day of discussions included the topic of the “Tourist Police” and the use of portable video cameras by police patrol teams, among other issues also involving borders like the “single inspection” and the reopening of the cross point of the Inner Harbor.

Regarding the topic of the creation of the “Tourist Police” in the islands (Taipa and Coloane) Wong was questioned by lawmakers Lau Veng Seng and Chui Sai Peng on the number and qualifications of the police officers that would occupy these positions.

The secretary asked the Public Security Police Force (PSP) Commissioner Leong Man Cheong to reply. Leong explained that such a team has been working in the peninsula with “20 officers that patrol normally the area of the Ruins of Saint Paul’s and operate on the repression of the criminal [activity] against tourists and on traffic control,” adding that such officers use “more careful language and have [bilingual] proficiency.”

For the new team, the number of officers “was raised to 30 and the number of areas to be patrolled also increased from 6 to 10,” Leong said, adding “this team will have a constant operation from now on and they will inclusively have a specific uniform – lighter – as well as equipment adequate to their specific functions.” Commissioner Leong also took the opportunity to discuss the color scheme (predominately white) of the specific patrol vehicle.

According to the head of the PSP, the officers will patrol in Rua do Cunha as well as other areas in Taipa.

On the topic of the use of the “Portable Video Cameras” by the police officers, lawmaker Vong Hin Fai asked if there was any law that supported such use based on privacy issues.

Without diving into too much detail, Wong said, “We already did a study before. The law allows it. There isn’t any problem.”

On cross border matters and regarding the Wanzai Port the Secretary used a similar reply as regarding all other border matters stating, “We can’t decide on this matter, we need to wait for an answer from the Zhuhai side.” He reaffirmed his availability to “remind” the Zhuhai authorities on the matter in today’s meeting.

As for the works regarding the implementation of the method of single-inspection on border crossing Wong Sio Chak said “We have a clearly defined direction but the works are still ongoing. I can’t advance much on that.”

The Policy Address sectorial discussion will continue tomorrow with the next two days dedicated to collaboration with the Secretary of Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, and his team.

Chui Sai Peng proposes gps localization for taxis

Remarking on the work undertaken by the Secretary for Security in tackling illegal actions of taxi drivers and transport services operating via mobile apps, lawmaker Chui Sai Peng proposed taxis to be equipped with a GPS localization system “to allow passengers to know where they can find a taxi.” The measure, which would seem to be a compromise between the normal taxi pick-up operations and the service provided by companies like Uber, provides an added “tool” to facilitate inspection by authorities and was well received by secretary Wong, who said it was a “good idea.”

‘Mini-storage facilities are fire safe,’ CB Commissioner says

Mini-storage” facilities in Macau abide by the law of fire safety, the Commissioner of the Fire Service Bureau (CB), Leong Iok Sam, said yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL) during the discussion of the Policy Address for 2017 in the area of security.
The commissioner was replying to the questions of several lawmakers who raised the question over the two days of questions and answers on the topic of security.

Leong took the opportunity to conduct an evaluation on the matter, raised due to concerns after a fire broke out in a similar facility in Hong Kong in June, resulting in the death of one firefighter.

Regarding the situation in Macau, Leong said: “We know of 21 of these facilities in Macau and we have been sending staff regularly to inspect them.” He added: “These facilities are located in industrial buildings, they are equipped with [fire] sprinklers and meet safety standards.”

“In any case, we have reinforced the work [on such facilities], namely in the inspection of escape routes and primary firefighting equipment,” the head of the CB reassured. RM