Figures released by the Statistics and Census Bureau also indicated that goods exported had dropped by 7.5% and the amount of fixed capital had also reduced by 30.9% during the same period.

The GDP growth rate for the first half of 2010 was 40.2%.

Secretary for the Economy and Finance Tam Pak Yuen (譚伯源) predicted that Macau’s GDP will be under a double-figure growth for the entire year, but will slow down in the second half of the year, offsetting the strong growth during the first half.

The denial came after legislator José Pereira Coutinho sent a text message to local media in the afternoon on 7 September that the Bishop had instructed O Clarim not to report any news about politics in Macau, after the Secretary for the Administration and Justice, Florinda Chan, made a complaint to him over the report of the concession of tombs in August.

The concession of tombs had attracted intervention of the Commission Against Corruption.

Coutinho told Macao Daily News that the reporter concerned at O Clarim had been instructed by the bishop to concentrate on reporting on sports, culture and diocesan activities.

José Lai said that he was only reiterating the stance of the diocesan organ as a tool for dissemination of Catholicism, rather than a ‘propaganda organ or spokesperson for politicians’.

The spokesperson for the Secretary for the Administration and Justice said that he had ‘no response’ over the report.

More than 200 people came to protest against the meeting held to set up a separate management committee of La Baie du Noble, an apartment complex located at Areia Preta. These 200 people were known to belong to a preparatory committee of another management committee of the complex.

Scuffles began when they were stopped by meeting participants. Eggs and water bottles were thrown at the scene. Police were called in to maintain order.

The chair of the meeting were stopped by protesters when he attempted to leave the scene. He fell fainted half an hour later, and was sent to hospital by security guards.

The Housing Institute of the government appeal to property owners of La Baie du Noble for calm and to resolve their disputes through negotiations.

Director of Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, Sou Chio Fai (蘇朝暉) said that the money will be used to increase subsidies in free education and tuition fees, speeding up the realisation of small-size classes, and to augment subsidies to the Education Development Fund and Student Welfare Fund.

Meanwhile, a new government school will be set up in the northern part of the Macau Peninsula in 2011, emphasising on creative and quality education. Less than 1,000 pupils will be accepted to the school, while the teaching staff will mostly be deployed from other government schools.

Sou also revealed that the Bureau intended to reinstate the free milk scheme, which was suspended because of the tainted milk scandal in China, and to expand the scope of beneficiaries of meal subsidies for disadvantaged and economically difficult groups.

Ung Wai Meng (吳衛鳴), President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presented to members of the Cultural Industries Council a policy framework for the development, which includes the promotion and sponsorship of the industries, training of talents, administrative and legal assistance and research.

In a short term, the Cultural Affairs Bureau will set up a display venue at C-Shop, the structure at the back of the statue of Jorge Álvares in Praia Grande, and a ‘flagship’ shop in Tap Seac Square.

Meanwhile, the Tourism and Cultural Activities Centre in front of the Ruins of St. Paul’s will be converted into cultural complex that will combine tourist information, shop for cultural and creative products, exhibition halls, multi-functional theatres and restaurants.

The Cultural and Creative Industries Promotional Department of the Cultural Affairs Bureau will set up a database for the industries, and a magazine will be published to introduce Macau’s cultural and creative products.

Other measures, such as how to promote Macau’s cultural and creative industries abroad and financial incentives to encourage the development, will be announced shortly.

During meeting of the Cultural Industries Council, members agreed to set up three taskforces to study the policy framework further, including industrial promotion, resourcing and planning, and regional cooperation.

The note, issued by the Secretariat for the Administration and Justice, pointed out that an internal regulation on the lease of permanent tombs was approved by the Standing Committee for Administration, Finance and Assets of the former Provisional Municipal Council of Macau, whose members were from the former Provisional Municipal Assembly, on 13 December 2001.

The internal regulation was in effect along with the Municipal By-Law on Cemeteries, which was promulgated in 1961.

The note confirmed that 10 permanent tomb applications were approved by the Council on 21 December, with one applicant gave up afterwards.

Meanwhile, the internal regulation and the Municipal By-Law remained valid until 31 December 2003, rather than what the local media claimed that the validity was for just 14 days.

Approval of permanent tombs made before 2003 remains valid according to the new Regulation on the Management, Operations and Control of Cemeteries. Since then, only the Chief Executive has the power to grant special permissions to those who have made significant contribution to the benefit of the Macau Special Administrative Region to use tombs on a long-term basis.

The note also confirmed that the Government has received an application to use a tomb in a long term since 2007. The application was rejected for two times during the second Government, and two times again during the third Government.

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutors confirmed that investigations are under way on the case of tomb concessions at the S. Miguel Cemetery, but there is currently not enough evidence to open a criminal proceeding to pursue such investigations further.

The Public Prosecutors said that ‘competent authorities’, meaning the Commission Against Corruption, should investigate complaints on administrative irregularities.

According to reports by the local media, an internal regulation was set up by the former Provisional Municipal Council of Macau to allow it to concede 10 permanent tombs annually for MOP38,000 each.

The regulation was made on 14 December 2001, only 17 days before the Council was due to be dismissed and replaced by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) that has no connections with then municipal organs, which were deemed to have ‘political power’.

In other words, the regulation was effective for only 17 days, and applications were received on 19 December, with concessions made on 21 December.

One of the benefactors of these concessions was reportedly a legal advisor to the Secretary for the Administration and Justice, and the regulation and relevant concessions were never made public.

The Public Prosecutors are reportedly investigating the complaint.

Legislator José Pereira Coutinho told TDM-TV that he had received a complaint from a citizen two months ago because his bid to apply for a permanent tomb was turned down by the IACM. The citizen concerned had later written a formal letter to the Chief Executive, who transferred it to the Office of the Secretary for the Administration and Justice, which transferred it again to the IACM for investigations.

Although Florinda Chan said at the beginning that she ‘did not know of’ the concessions, she later told journalists that as Secretary, she did not have the power to authorise concessions as this was the power of the former Municipal Councils.

Jornal Va Kio aruges that all land plots in Macau are owned by the state after Reunification, and the length of land concessions can be extended to a maximum of 25 years, and only those who have made significant contribution to the well-being of Macau are permitted to use tombs ‘in a long term’ after their deaths.

The newspaper also revealed that the former Municipal Council of Macau had made a decision in the 1970s not to concede any tombs, owing to the lack of space, but this rule was somewhat relaxed since the 1990s, when applications were received occasionally to bid for permanent tombs.

Meanwhile, legislator Au Kam San (區錦新), who was a former member of the Municipal Assembly of Macau, said that the government should launch a disciplinary inquiry over this case.

Legislator Kwan Tsui Hang (關翠杏) said she did not hear of the rumour, and so refused to comment, but she pointed out that the government should do all things according to the law.

The statue was erected to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death and as a mark of respect for his contribution to the cultural and scientific exchanges between China and the West.

The statue, designed by local artist Wong Ka Long (黃家龍), measures 2.2 metres tall and with a weight of two tonnes.

Earlier the government removed the sculpture of ‘Woman and Dog’ in the area, which was part of the public decorations to celebrate Luso-Chinese friendship. The sculpture was inaugurated on Portugal Day in 1994, but the posture of the woman was widely criticised by the Chinese community as ‘indecent’, and ‘a humiliation to the Chinese’.

The survey conducted by the Macau New Chinese Youth Association and the New Persepctive Association (新視覺學會) shows that a third of the interviewees are satisfied with how the Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region is elected is divided, while the other two-thirds are either dissatisfied or not having particular opinion.

Similar result is also found on whether the interviewees are satisfied with the existing composition of the Legislative Assembly, which is made up of directly-elected seats, indirectly-elected seats and appointed seats.

The survey found that 37% of the interviewees wish to have all seats of the Legislative Assembly produced by universal suffrage, 20% opt to increase directly-elected seats, 13% opt to reduce appointed seats and about 10% opt to reduce indirectly-elected seats. 21% do not comment.

On how the Chief Executive should be elected, 47% opt for universal suffrage, 17% opt to increase the seats in the Electoral College, 12% opt to reduce the threshold for nomination, and 22% do not comment.

However, 65% of the interviewees hope that the Chief Executive and the Legislative Assembly will be elected by universal suffrage in the end, and 73% hope the Government to propose a timetable and ‘route map’ to achieve this.

The associations deemed that debates and discussions should be launched, and that the Government should conduct studies immediately on this issue.

Rádio Macau reported that Costa died in Lisbon at the age of 78.

He was the 124th Governor of Macau between 1981 and 1986, who dismissed the Legislative Assembly in a bid to stop the dominance of lawmakers representing the interests of civil service and the community of Lusodescendents.

The dismissal was the only time in the history of Macau.

In the meantime, he put forward the modernisation of the public administration structure of Macau, which largely remains intact until today.

Before taking up the position as Governor of Macau, he was the interim Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976 until Mário Soares was elected Prime Minister.

Costa was born in Lisbon on 26 July 1932.