Members of the Northern District Community Service Consultative Council yesterday raised their concerns about certain issues with the Public Market Management Regulation Law, during the council’s first regular meeting of the year, at the Government Service Centre in Areia Preta district.
The law, which regulates the management of Macau’s municipal markets, came into force on January 1.
Deputy Coordinator Kou Ngon Fong plus council members Cheong Wun Ian and Chan U Iong voiced their concerns about certain perceived problems with the law, and urged the government to increase public awareness of the new law.
According to Kou, public market operators are facing competition from supermarkets and online shops. Kou said that the majority of the operators are old and less educated which restricted them from competing. With the city’s development and diverse shopping options, Kou said he witnessed the necessity to reform and optimise public markets so that they would not go out of business.
Kou said that the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) should strengthen public awareness of the new law so that residents could adapt to its new terms. Kou also said that the government should learn from “successful” experiences elsewhere to upgrade traditional public markets into modern ones.
Cheong said that there were still unresolved issues affecting the markets despite the new law’s enforcement. Cheong noted that public markets’ sanitation has always been a problem. Cheong said she hoped that the Municipal Affairs Bureau could improve the markets’ cleanliness. Furthermore, Cheong said that some vendors agree with the tightened regulation of public markets so that public resources could be fully utilised. However, she stressed that the vendors hope that the bureau could define the law’s guidelines more clearly.
Chan said he was aware of the vendors’ long-term business interests, adding that the vendor stalls are major local features. Moreover, he pointed out, they provide the community with affordable goods. Chan noted that maintaining the municipal markets’ long-term operations is essential for the city. Chan urged the bureau to organise shopping carnivals for the vendors to stimulate the sector’s vitality.
According to an earlier IAM statement, the new law aims to strengthen the public markets’ regulatory framework, ensure the rational allocation and full use of public resources, promote the markets’ active operations, improve service quality, and provide a more well-rounded legal foundation for the sector’s development.
The statement also noted that the new law defines Macau’s nine municipal markets, vendor stalls, and cooked food centres in municipal markets, as “public markets”. The statement underlined that the bureau has the authority to manage public markets and supervise the vendor stalls’ operations in order to maintain the markets’ sanitation and to fine offenders.
The deputy coordinator of the Northern District Community Service Consultative Council, Kou Ngon Fong, addresses the council’s regular meeting at the Government Service Centre in Areia Preta district yesterday. Photo: Ula Cheang
