Public car park management firm issues unlawful monthly passes to users

Comendador Ho Yin Garden car park

Macau Forehap Parking Management Limited is facing a maximum fine of MOP250,000 after admitting to the Transport Bureau (DSAT) that it issued government-unauthorized monthly passes to users of Comendador Ho Yin Garden car park behind the regulator’s back.
The facility is not among the government’s 16 parking lots with an allowed monthly-
pass mechanism. DSAT’s director Lam Hin San said during a press conference yesterday that the management firm, which is currently supervising 15 public car parks, issued a total of 390 passes to motorists and private car drivers using the abovementioned parking lot since May 2012, a time shortly after the management company was granted the permit to run the 900-plus bay car park.
However, DSAT has allegedly remained in the dark despite regular checks carried out by its eight inspectors on the government’s 38 parking lots. “Regarding patrols and inspections, I admit there’s room for improvement,” acknowledged Lam, adding that the bureau would tighten its oversight.
As the malpractice investigation is still underway, the bureau’s head said that he was unsure of when the results would come, to which a penalty was subject. However, he said that the harshest penalty would be a fine of MOP250,000 given that only a small part of the terms in the concession agreement was violated.
According to the existing regulation, concessionaires only lose their partnership with the government if the misconduct committed is worthy of at least MOP1 million in fines.
Furthermore, the government is still allowing the monthly-pass operation to run until the beginning of next month in order to let the management firm, which was said to “have promised to bear all of the responsibility for the incident” and liaise with its monthly-pass holders on the issue.
“We also need time to probe the incident thoroughly to see if it also requires criminal punishment,” Lam Hin San said, pledging to transfer the case to related law enforcing departments if found criminally related.
Asked if the episode was linked to the scandal divulged by the Commission Against Corruption in April where two officials allegedly helped three companies secure their concessions from the government, Lam refused to offer any comments, citing that the watchdog’s inquiry was still in process.
Still, according to the authorities, the tariff devised by the firm, which is higher than currently regulated, consists of three rates – MOP1200 or MOP1000 per card for private cars and MOP200 per card for motorbikes each month.
It also transpired that the monthly-pass holders had received notifications from the car park’s management firm earlier reminding them to renew their subscriptions.