The Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) said in a statement yesterday that it has received 47 applications for its ongoing scheme that offers a subsidy to owners for scrapping their old diesel-powered vehicles, since its launch at the middle of last month.
The statement also said that the bureau’s Environmental Protection and Energy Conservation Fund has completed assessing 36 out of the 47 applications.
The statement did not say whether any of the applications have been rejected.
The subsidy scheme’s applications, which started on September 15, will run until March 15 next year.
The subsidy programme’s regulation was published as an executive order signed by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário in the Official Gazette (BO) on September 13.
Each eligible vehicle owner will benefit from a subsidy ranging from 25,000 patacas to 115,000 patacas depending on their respective vehicles’ type and specification.
According to the regulation, the subsidy scheme covers vehicles that were first registered on or before December 31, 2002 and had still not been deregistered before the scheme’s announcement, i.e., September 13.
According to the scheme’s regulation, owners are required to remove their vehicles from Macau within 180 days after they have been notified that their application for a subsidy has been approved. In addition, they are also required to deregister the respective vehicles with the Transport Bureau (DSAT) during the 180-day period. Only after the owners fulfil the requirements, will they receive the subsidy.
Yesterday’s statement also reaffirmed that in compliance with the government’s policy to control the number of vehicles, the subsidy scheme does not require beneficiaries to purchase new vehicles after scrapping their old diesel vehicles.
The statement also underlined that the subsidy scheme aims to encourage owners to scrap their old diesel vehicles that produce a higher level of emissions.
Yesterday’s statement also urged eligible vehicle owners who intend to benefit from the subsidy scheme to submit their applications as soon as possible.
Details about the subsidy scheme, which are only available in the Chinese and Portuguese languages, can be checked at: https://www.fpace.gov.mo/fpace_tc/introduction_p5.aspx
The government launched in March this year a 3,500-pataca subsidy scheme for owners to replace their old motorcycles with new electric ones. Its application scheme will end on December 31.
