Directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I, who heads the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 1st Standing Committee which has finished reviewing a government-initiated bill regulating the operation and safety of lifts, escalators, travellator and similar devices, expects the proposed piece of legislation to be submitted to the legislature before the current legislative session ends on August 15.
During the closed-door meeting, which lasted two and a half hours, and was attended by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário and Secretary for Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) Lai Weng Leong, the committee reviewed the latest version of the bill submitted by the government. The committee will soon submit the bill to a plenary session for a final article-by-article vote and debate, Lei said.
The latest version of the bill proposes that it will take effect 18 months after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO).
Lei added that the lifts and similar devices that are already in use, as well as lift repair and maintenance companies, inspection companies and their respective technicians, must follow the bill six months after the bill’s promulgation in the BO.
The original version of the bill proposed mandatory civil liability insurance for lift repair and maintenance companies. This part was removed from the latest version of the bill, following a discussion between government officials and representatives from the Macau Insurers’ Association, after confirming that such insurance products specifically for lifts are not available in the market, and that the required amount could be difficult to estimate.
Lei quoted some lawmakers’ concerns on whether the sectors or the building owners would be able to take out public liability insurance – which is available in the market – in order to cover injuries caused by accidents in lifts and similar devices.
The latest version of the bill removed the article that technicians from one lift repair and maintenance company cannot work for another one simultaneously, while retaining the article that lift repair and maintenance companies and their personnel cannot be hired by the city’s lift inspection companies.
Lei quoted some lawmakers’ concerns about whether there will be sufficient oversight during the inspection process and also expressed concern about the quality of the inspections. Lei quoted the government as saying that it will add an article requiring lift inspection technicians not to exceed the stipulated upper limit of inspection work. She did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng will attend a Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle next Tuesday.
Lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I (left), who chairs the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee, talks to reporters after yesterday’s closed-door meeting of the committee reviewing the government’s lift, escalator & travellator bill, as the committee’s secretary, Becky Song Pek Kei, looks on. Photos: Ginnie Liang
