Security | Wong: Preventative measures taken on illegal immigration record browsing

Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak affirmed that the authority has already taken some measures to prevent abuses of power and illegal browsing of immigration records in the police system from reoccurring.
During the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) plenary meeting, lawmaker Sulu Sou raised questions regarding the issues which were recently exposed by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC). The lawmaker requested that the security authority answer as to whether the Judiciary Police (PJ) and the Public Security Police Force (PSP) had ever proactively initiated internal protocols to try to detect the illegal browsing of immigration records in the police system.
In response to Sou’s question, Wong revealed that three of the 17 arrested officers were from PJ and 14 were from PSP. The security authority has already dismissed 15 of them and some of the former police officers are serving time in prison.
“Now, the computer [used for requesting immigration records] is solely stored in one room. And only a few people have access to this computer. Inside the room, there are CCTV surveillance cameras,” said Wong.
According to the Secretary, every police officer has their own account for using the police computer system. PJ provides one account which is shared among several agents and is used for requesting immigration records.
“Only several agents from the information support department of PJ have access to the shared account. It is possible to trace who runs searches in the system,” said the official.
The director of the PJ is currently responsible for overseeing record requests and is entitled to investigate illegal use of the system.
Late last year, the CCAC revealed that a PJ officer was suspected of accessing the immigration records of two people a number of times in 2019 for personal interest and without authorization from his superior.

Mak raises concerns on water leaks
The local government is studying the establishment of rules requiring homeowners to open their doors to authorities to identify water leaks.
During the plenary meeting, lawmaker Mak Soi Kun expressed his concerns over the prolonged water leaks issue. Mak advocated that the government consider outsourcing research on the law to other professional law firms to expedite the regulation establishment process.
In his opinion, identifying water leaks does not necessarily mean the government authority should have to enter people’s houses to locate the origin of the problem.
“You don’t have to enter the houses. There are professional companies and technologies that are able to identify the origin of water leaks without entering the houses [where leaks might start],” said Mak. “People are in a gravely miserable situation.”
Director of the Office for Secretary for Administration and Justice Lam Chi Long admitted that lawsuits and arbitrations appeared to be incapable of solving water leak disputes.
According to statistics revealed by Lam, between 2009 and 2020, the local government logged 20,199 water leak cases, of which approximately 17,400 were dealt with.
Other cases remain unsolved mostly because homeowners refused to cooperate with the government authority.
“Most of the uncooperative homeowners’ houses have illegal engineering works. That is why these homeowners won’t open the door,” said Lam.
Seven lawmakers, including Mak, raised concerns regarding this topic during Friday’s meeting.
According to Macau’s law, severe leaks can be dealt with using the law that pertains to public sanitation.
“However, most of the cases are not so serious that they impact public sanitation. But there are leaks that are mild but indeed disturbing and we want to solve these problems as well,” said Lam.

DSSOPT has no plans to make mandated recycling guide
The Macau SAR government has no intention to amend laws to prescribe a mandated recycling guide, according to Raimundo Arrais do Rosário, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works.
“The government has no intention to amend the law this year to prescribe a mandated classified recycling guide for trash, “said Rosário. “We will do it through publicity towards the public.”
Lawmakers Chui Sai Peng and Angela Leong were the two lawmakers who brought the topic up. Including Chui and Leong, six legislators expressed concerns about Macau’s environment and recycling specifically.
Domestic waste management, electronic equipment recycling, and single-use materials are among the most asked-about topics.
Despite having no plans for mandated recycling guidelines, the public works authority intends to implement specific management protocols for the city’s over 9,000 convoy systems which consist of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways.
According to Rosário, within this year, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) will have a new department for electrical and mechanical services.
DSSOPT is said to be transferring some of its current civil servants and will hire some new workers to form the department.