blogmacau.info

In celebration of the Lunar New Year, updates to this weblog will be suspended from 29 January to 1 February.

blogmacau.info would like to wish all visitors a very happy Lunar New Year.

Secretary for Security Cheong Kuoc Va said that he does not receive news which claimed that an aide of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was arrested in Macau by mainland Chinese police.

The news came from a media from South Korea, which claimed that an aide of Kim Jong Il was arrested by mainland Chinese police in Macau in suspicion of money-laundering.

Cheong emphasised that law-execution authorities in Macau do not belong to police authorities in mainland China, and the two respect each other.

Dear Fellow Citizens,

A year ends with firecrackers, and new spring is celebrated across the country. On behalf of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, I would like to firstly wish the population of Macau a good health, prosperity and happiness and all wishes are realised, at the beginning of the Year of the Dog.

During the past year, the society of Macau went through many experiences, not only had they enriched our experience and consolidated our confidence, but had also sharpened our minds. We firmly believe that if we continued to maintain our good tradition of coherence, by uniting together and being tolerant and progressing together, Macau would for sure continue to be stable and prosperous, and to develop sustainably.

For the Lunar New Year ahead, I sincerely wish for a continued prosperity for Macau – with a good environment, with good employment opportunities, and with good business prospects. The most important thing is, the entire population could strive with a positive attitude, cumulating experiences at prosperities, and growing at adversities. Only if we have confidence, and only if we have determination, can we then overcome all difficulties and stand out. There is a saying that hard work makes success, co-operation makes enlargement, devotion makes gain, and present makes future. These constant rules are indeed the motto for us to attain successes for the future.

For the Special Administrative Region Government to realise such important measures as to promote humanities and to establish ethical principles to our times, we need the entire population to fully support and cooperate with us. Only if every one of you remains part of Macau in your heart, and contribute yourselves in different respective positions, realising our wishes will for sure become hopes full of vitalities, that will exist everywhere in our lives.

Finally, many civil servants and citizens of all walks of life will have to serve as normal during the festive season, to make us being able to spend this holiday happily. I wish to express my season's greetings and sincere thanks to them.

I wish everyone once again a fruitful, harmonious and serene New Year. Kung Hei, Kung Hei.

The Government will charge employers a levy for employing imported workers from the first half of this year.

In response to a written inquiry by Legislator Kwan Tsui Hang, Director of Labour Affairs Bureau Shuen Ka Hung pointed out that the measure is to remove the worries of local workers, who think that imported workers are “cheap labour”.

The levy rate will be established after studies were conducted by the Human Resources Development Council and the co-ordination of the Standing Commission for Social Co-Ordination.

The levy will primarily be used to re-train middle-aged unemployed local workers, he said.

Legislators criticised the recent publication of the importation of foreign workers by the Government, saying that the data is incomplete for analysis.

Kwan Tsui Hang pointed out that the released data is no sufficient to analysis whether the measure is fair to the society, because data for individual enterprises to employ local workers are not published, making it difficult to establish the ratio between imported workers and local workers in a particular firm.

The same point of view is also shared by Ng Kuok Cheong, who further pointed out that large influx of foreign workers in certain enterprises for a particular sector might indicate “unfair competition” between them.

The figures released by the Labour Affairs Bureau show that imported foreign workers amounted to 39,411 by the end of 2005, which was significantly increased by 42% in comparison with the same period in 2004.

Foreign workers working in construction, wholesale and retail, and gaming sharply increased by 1.71, 1.27 and 1.08 times year-on-year.

On the other hand, unemployment rate in Macau for the fourth quarter of last year remains at 4% in comparison with the third quarter.

The underemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point, to 1.4%.

The total workforce in Macau is currently 259,000, of which 10,000 people are unemployed, and about 1,100 of them are seeking for their first jobs.

Cracks were found at the anti-bullet windows installed for two watchposts at Macau Prison in Coloane.

The watchposts are usually guarded by officers carrying MP5 semi-automatic rifles, and are served to prevent prisoners from escaping and to watch the surroundings.

Residents nearby had spotted a crack at a watchpost earlier in the month, and another crack was discovered a few weeks later.

Judicary Police is investigating the scene, and the possibility for these cracks caused by gun shots cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile, the Prison has issued an internal guideline to its staff, appealing to them to be careful when guarding the watchposts, and must not open the windows.

Eight vehicles left stranded when a scaffolding at the Lunar New Year fireworks area at NAPE collapsed amidst strong winds.

A tourist coach was passing by when the accident happened at about 10:00 yesterday morning (26 January), leaving visitors to carry their baggages away to clear the scene.

No one was injured in the accident, but the Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen had to be closed for two hours for clearance.

The scaffolding, measures 200 metres long and three metres high, was used to block firecrackers and fireworks from flying into the carriageway in the opposite.

The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau has decided the reinforce the scaffoldings, so that visitors and residents who will come to light firecrackers or fireworks during the Lunar New Year holiday can do it safely.

The Government hopes to build a suspended roundabout connecting the Macau Maritime Terminal and northern part of Macau.

A feasibility report concluded at the end of last year gives an approval to the idea, and the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) will study further the plan in order to realise it.

The proposed roundabout is expected to divert the traffic from the Macau Maritime Terminal towards the North and Taipa, as well as that from the Ponte da Amizade towards the Outer Harbour.

Vehicles coming from the Macau Maritime Terminal can use a new taxi bridge to approach to the roundabout. Those towards the north can access to the carriageway at the seaside without having to get into busy roads such as the Guia Tunnel and the Avenida Horta e Costa.

Vehicles coming from the north will no longer have to use roads within the Areia Preta and the North nieghbourhoods, thus reducing the journey time.

The annual Lunar New Year fair began business at Macau's city centre yesterday (25 January), but only one stall is selling festive flowers.

Traditionally, stalls in the fair sell festive flowers like narcissus and peach blossoms, but stalls this year are selling festive decorations such as Chinese paper-cuts, toys and gifts.

Hawkers say that high bidding prices of the stalls may deter owners from selling flowers, which are regarded as “risky”.

In addition, weather and salinity factors also affect the growth of flowers, making flowers more expensive, and hence more difficult to sell out.

Visitors and hawkers also told Macao Daily News that the atmosphere of the fair, located at Largo do Senado, was “severly affected” by the items sold by hawkers. They suggested the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau to designated several stalls which require sales of festive flowers compulsory.

Meanwhile, the Bureau has set up a quarantine post at Portas do Cerco checkpoint at the border to inspect the festive flowers and plants brought in by the residents from mainland China.

The Bureau appealed to the public to ask for a receipt from dealers if they purchased flowers from mainland China, as records will be made by the personnel in case of diseases or pests.

Macau residents are allowed to bring in a maximum of 5 kg of plants from mainland China for their own use. Rare species, however, have to be sought for approval by the Economic Bureau first before importation.

Macao Water promised to provide water with normal salinity levels during the Lunar New Year holiday, and expected to continue until mid-February.

Deputy General Manager Fan Xiaojun told media in Macau that Macao Water is “satisfied” with the effects of water diversion from Bei Jiang into Xi Jiang earlier in the month.

He expected the concentration of chloride ions in tap water will remain at 250 to 300 mg per litre until mid-February, or even slightly lower.

He also expected that the salinity crisis will be “over” provided rain will fall after the Lunar New Year.

Fan denied claims that the forthcoming salt tide in February will affect water supplies in Macau, saying that although salt tides come every 15 days, the successful raw water diversion earlier in January should not affect the salinity levels of Macau's tap water.