Q&A | Antonio Trindade, CESL Asia CEO: ‘Who’s leading Macau’s environment? There’s nothing’

“Who’s leading Macau’s environment? What entity do we have in Macau that looks at solutions for Macau to be sustainable? There’s nothing,” Antonio Trindade said yesterday, ahead of the Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (MIECF), which CESL Asia joins for the 11th time, “showing its ideas and solutions” during the three-day event.

Trindade spoke to the Times to discuss the city’s progress on becoming a sustainable city.

According to him, Typhoon Hato was a wakeup call for authorities to acknowledge the city’s weak environmental and public calamity management, amongst other factors.

Trindade also questioned Macau for not appointing an entity in supervising the city’s sustainable and environmental growth, thus weakening the SAR’s aim to develop a sustainable environment and economy.

Macau Daily Times (MDT) – What will CESL offer at MIECF this year?

Antonio Trindade (AT) – Because of what we have evolved into as a company, CESL Asia has been incorporating its major services with a high degree of sophistication in terms of IT solutions.  CESL Asia will display its initiatives with a partner from Fujian Province, a high-tech group “Newland.” We will look to create [underline] a smart transportation system, cloud computing and big data, and the opportunities for potential deployment of modern solutions.

MDT – What does it take for Macau to have a resilient and sustainable economy?

AT – To face the problem and be available to solve the problem. It’s not a question of what it takes, it has to be done. I’ve said that government [leads the role], but everyone else has a contribution to make. But of course, you don’t do this as leadership. Who’s leading Macau’s environment? What entity do we have in Macau that looks at solutions for Macau to be sustainable? There’s nothing.

Gaming is not forever and maybe not [even] sustainable. It’s generating good results for the community, then what? Maybe some problems would occur. We need to let a lot of local companies to sustain the environment. It will be resilient but first, we need sustainability and put it on a proper level. This takes leadership and willingness. Obviously, there’s no leader there.

MDT – Is that the biggest factor as to why the city is not advancing?

AT – Yes. We [CESL Asia] predicted and assumed our responsibility to provide solutions to the government. We keep telling everyone – the government – that we want to be part of the solution and we do that first and foremost because we are locals.

We can see that we are an international city, yet, we were not prepared for the typhoon [Hato], which stopped the city for so long. It doesn’t fit [the image]. It takes leadership and these leaders have to be able to develop the solutions for that. The leaders should not ask outsiders to solve this matter.

MDT – What are the challenges faced in the region’s wastewater plant?

AT –  Macau has spent hundreds of millions on, for instance, water recycling solutions, but none of them are there [in place]. The wastewater coming out of these plants is as bad as it went in.

We are not talking about an occasional issue. These are [conducted] by the same people and companies. It’s not a matter of chasing people, it’s a matter of getting the water treated. This is what it takes to make a difference. Companies need to commit to deliver something.

MDT – With that being said, is it ironic that MIECF is being held in Macau?

AT – No. I find this as a big reminder that the city was known to have the best environmental solutions and operators in the 9+2 region. We [at CESL Asia] know that we can provide solutions. I am sure we can achieve results and deliver to Macau.

MDT – Does Macau have effective strategies and policies, but is only lacking action?

AT – No, I don’t think we have any effective strategies and policies. That is unfortunate.

MDT – Does this hinder Macau to progress in terms of effectively building a sustainable environment?

AT – Macau lost it’s leadership [in this sector], but it will definitely gain it back because it’s a consequence of diversification, a consequence of a platform and a consequence of the Greater Bay Area. If people knew what could go wrong, I think there’s a big wake up call, [like] with Typhoon Hato.

MDT – What were the lessons from Typhoon Hato?

AT – We learned how weak our energy supply and solutions are, how weak our transportation solutions are, how weak our waste collection solutions are, and how weak our waste water treatment solutions are too. There were diseases that were created and lingered on for the months after the typhoon. That is why there is a big effort to evaluate what went wrong. Was there really a reason why we closed up for so many days?

MDT – Do electric cars remain a solution in the city’s transport system?

AT – We don’t have too many but for now, electric cars are not a solution for anything. They are not a solution for anything but they can be a solution in a new transportation model. Maybe we won’t need much roads and some can be converted into parks to improve quality of life.

MDT – What is your take on the lack of a policy model for a smart city project despite heavy investments made by Macau?

AT – I only know the intentions but we don’t know yet. However, we are preparing to because we know that there will be infrastructures there. Who is going to provide solutions for e-governance, or for tax and payments? Who will provide solutions for transportation or cloud control; disaster response or mitigation?