Workers’ lawmakers to continue fight for livelihood issues

Lawmaker Ella Lei

Lawmakers Ella Lei, Leong Sun Iok, Lam Lon Wai and Lei Chan U say they will continue to pursue better housing policies, better transportation, and improved protection of local workers in the upcoming Legislative Assembly (AL) session.

Recalling the past legislative term at a press conference held yesterday, the four lawmakers said that several problems with the administration had gone unresolved in the past year.

They cited insufficient public administration and public fund supervision, the slow build-up of the urban plan regime and lamented the fact that the unbalanced tourism policy still cannot balance livelihood and tourism issues.

The lawmakers also said that the long-standing housing and transportation issues must be solved, and complained that the training of talented human resources lacks forward-thinking.

The lawmakers had therefore submitted proposals to the SAR government to improve administrative ability.

Regarding institutional development, the four lawmakers want the government to enhance the construction of a clean government, push forward public administration reform, improve public finance management, monitor companies where public money has been invested, improve the urban planning regime and balance tourism development.

“High-ranking officials’ corruption and malpractice continue to be unearthed,” the lawmakers noted in a joint statement. “The government must enhance the accountability system for high-ranking officials, thus setting a good example by independently investigating malpractice by civil servants while improving their disciplinary system.”

The four lawmakers condemned the low efficiency and lack of rigor in formulating budgets, citing the large amounts of public money spent on renting properties.

Moreover, each year, the SAR government spends hundreds of millions of patacas on companies supported with public funds.

“Although proposed for many years, there is still no supervision mechanism, with the companies’ capital and operations derailing from the public’s monitoring.”

The four lawmakers suggested that the SAR government should expedite works involved in converting a land plot of 70,740 square meters into a leisure and family-friendly zone. The land of the former Iec Long Firecracker Factory was also proposed to be transformed into a platform for cultural creations.

In regard to housing and transportation matters, the four lawmakers want public housing plans, public housing quality, and better application procedures. There is a push for the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) to be combined with casino shuttle buses, and extended to Barra and Seac Pai Van. Bus drivers’ service quality should also be improved, according to the lawmakers.

Representing the workers sector, the four lawmakers particularly recommended that the government make improvements to ensure workers do not see their salaries delayed. The compensation amount available for injuries obtained on-duty were also recommended to receive an increase. 

“The government is always unable to fulfill its promises regarding labor relation legislation and law amendments,” the four reported together.

They finally urged the government to continue ensuring that there are policies to prioritize the hiring of local workers, and to regularly train local talented people.