UM pledges to review staff housing scheme

The University of Macau said it will take effective measures to tackle issues which have recently been highlighted in a Commission of Audit (CA) report slamming the institution’s management of public resources. The university handed its own findings to the cabinet of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, stressing that it will be revising its staff housing allocation criteria.
“Following CA’s report, UM’s management held numerous discussions and carried out a careful review of the issue. UM will examine the staff housing allocation criteria, particularly with respect to the priority given to those who already own a property in Macau,” the university said.
The CA released a document last month claiming that UM had failed to effectively manage public resources when granting housing units to academic staff who already owned a home in Macau. “UM’s actions are in clear breach of the government’s social housing policy principle, while going against the principle of good management of public resources,” the report read.
The text raised criticism not only over UM’s management of its staff housing scheme, but also over the handling of a research institute, based in Zhuhai, and the University of Macau Development Foundation. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, then requested that the university further clarify issues pointed out in the CA report.
UM released its findings last week stating that it will “try its best to put forward a suggestion for improving the staff housing policy” as soon as possible.
The CA report had questioned UM’s actions upon creating the UMacau Research Institute in Zhuhai and registering it as a “private non-business entity” –
the legal framework of which prevents it from applying for specific funding.
UM now said that it will be committed “to studying the possibility of changing the way the research institute is currently registered and managed through a Guangdong-Macau mechanism.” The university goes even further to suggest that if their attempts to change the institute’s legal framework are unsuccessful, it will consider closing it.
Meanwhile, the university said that it welcomed CA’s opinions regarding the University of Macau Development Foundation, and it will carry out a comprehensive review of its current charter and legal framework. This “is to make sure that all activities of the UMDF, and the donations it receives, are under strict supervision of the government and the UM, thus avoiding any potential risks.” The foundation was created in 2009 as a legal entity (under private law).   As such, the UM was not a part of it, and is not entitled to intervene or to supervise its activities, the CA report had pointed out. CP

120 days to implement measures

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, has given a 120-day deadline for the University of Macau to implement a set of measures that will rectify management flaws identified in a recent Commission of Audit report. Mr Tam reminded UM of the importance of managing public resources efficiently. He also requested that the university “immediately review” its staff housing allocation scheme, recalling that the program is operated using public money, and that staff cannot be granted higher benefits than those established by law.