Policy Address | Wong Sio Chak delivers ‘full steam ahead’ plan for 2017

Wong Sio Chak (center)

After two presentations on the policy address for 2017 from the Secretariats of Administration and Justice and Economy and Finance, which left lawmakers with a feeling of disappointment, yesterday arrived the Secretary for Security. Wong Sio Chak was arguably the first to present a concrete plan with concrete measures. His 2017 action plan garnered positive feedback from many lawmakers yesterday afternoon at the Legislative Assembly (AL).

Although for some the plan is perhaps a little too ambitious, it nevertheless marks a turning point from the earlier plans presented by Wong’s Secretariat colleagues, which were criticized for being incipient and scarce in real measures.

Organized in seven different chapters, the plan presented in the initial speech by  Wong highlighted the goal of the “implementation of a modern policing concept and model.”

Addressing on the measures to achieve that objective, the secretary said: “After the restructuring, the Unitary Police Services [SPU] will assume competencies of Civil Protection,” announcing “with the purpose of increasing their capability to solve problems, the new Civil Protection Operational Centre construction will be concluded during the next year,” leading the way to a series of new measures like “a night-time inspection operation with the purpose of fining any illicit acts performed by taxi drivers.”

Other announcements include the creation of the “Tourist Police” in the islands [Taipa, Coloane] that will join the “Mobile Police Stations,” to be made available at the most important tourist sites in the region. The idea is to provide support to tourists, as well as equip Public Security Police Force (PSP) patrol teams with portable video cameras “in order to guarantee the security of the officers and the population.”

In the chapter on regional cooperation, several mechanisms are addressed with a particular focus on the creation of a mechanism for urgent communication with Guangdong province, namely on nuclear security.

Internally there are also updates and changes to be performed, for example in the “creation of a new juridical regime for the staff of the Macau Security Force (FSM),” that after collecting opinions for the past three months, will ready to enter into the legislature next year.

Electing for “policing close to citizens,” Wong also announced that all police corporations and services will improve their communication with residents, namely by improving and updating functions on the websites as well as the disclosure of information related to police work. This, he hopes, will ferment “close-ties” between the police and the population, improving the image of the forces.

Another of the areas that the secretary promises to address during the year is on quality of the service at the border checkpoints. “The quality of the services at the border cross points isn’t only related to the security and quality of traveling local residents, but also of the entrepreneurs and tourists that visit Macau. [This is] an important requisite for Macau to become a ‘World Leisure and Tourism Center’,” he said. Wong added that the services “will learn from the lessons of the past [that teach us] the need for improvement in our activities.”

The focus will include a “third system of redundancy” for the checkpoints in order to avoid situations like the one which occurred on April 30, when a malfunction in the system created chaos at the border. Moreover, a new “automatic system for the border cross of vehicles at four checkpoints, namely, Border Gate, Cotai, Industrial Park Zhuhai-Macau and the new border area to be created at the HKMZ bridge, will be adopted.

In addition to the praise Wong received from many lawmakers, there was also a great deal of concern.

Topping the list of concerns was the lack of human resources and the difficulty in attracting new recruits for the FSM.

Ho Ion Sang was the first to address the problem, highlighting the fact that the new area of “maritime sovereignty” will increase the pressure over the demand for staff, exacerbated by the construction of the new cross border links.

The secretary acknowledged the problem of staff “overloading”, adding that “training takes time; around 18 months. We need two to three years for the candidates to be ready and we don’t have much of a choice,” he said, remarking that the rate of success on the hiring of new recruits from the number of applicants is only about 50 percent.

“There are a lot of withdrawals during the process. The profession is not attractive enough,” Wong said, adding: “We are trying to tackle this problem with the use of technology in order to economize human resource as much as we can.”

Lawmaker Angela Leong highlighted the “workload” and the “new forms of criminality” in her questions, seeking clarification on the preparation of FSM staff to approach the problems.
In his reply, the secretary made use of current statistics to determine that the FSM will need a total of 1,121 new staff members over the next 3 years.

Cybercrimes need heavy punishment

Questioned at the AL regarding the evolution and seriousness of cybercrimes, Wong Sio Chak said, “Without cyber security, there isn’t public security”, paraphrasing a popular quote from Chinese President Xi Jinping who previously stated, “Without cyber security, there is no national security.” According to Wong, the penal framework with “light penalties [just one year of imprisonment for unlawful computer invasion] do not produce enough of a deterrent.” He called for an update to the law that would establish heavier penalties for cases where IT systems of public services and utilities providers, such as hospitals, electric and water suppliers, are compromised.

Macau vehicles to start to drive in Hengqin on Dec. 20

December 20 was the date advanced by the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, for the entry into force of measures that will allow cars from Macau to tour some areas of Hengqin Island.

The information was delivered through a reply to a question posed by lawmaker Angela Leong. “The kick-off will be on December 20. The works are taking place. We have already received the preliminary solution from the governor of Zhuhai and I will meet him in two days’ time to discuss the final details,” Wong said. “After that [meeting] we will be able to disclose the complete information about it.”