Macao Water Executive Director Nacky Kuan Sio Peng said yesterday that Macau’s tap water consumption dropped continuously under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during the past three years, adding that the city consumed 83 million cubic metres last year, down by 3.5 percent year on year.
Kuan made the remarks at a media spring luncheon hosted by the utility at MGM Macau in Nape.
Kuan pointed out that although the number of visitor arrivals to Macau has increased thanks to the government’s gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions since late last year, the city’s tap water consumption was still down until this month, adding she hoped that tap water consumption will grow five to six percent year on year this month.
Kuan also said that with the gradual relaxation of travel restrictions between Macau and neighbouring regions, the number of tourists visiting the city has increased “significantly”, adding that Macau’s economy has been recovering in “an orderly manner”. She also said that this year’s tap water consumption was expected to increase by four to five percent for the whole year.
According to Kuan, partial repairs of the Ilha Verde Water Treatment Plant, which has been in operation for over 30 years, are slated to start in the middle of this year, adding that the repairs are expected to take about three months. She pledged that there would be no impact on the tap water supply to the public because of the normal operations of the two other water treatment plans, i.e., the one in Seac Pai Van in Coloane and the Main Storage Reservoir Water Treatment Plant in the peninsula.
Regarding her company’s open-ended Subsidy Programme for Repairing Service Connections of Low-rise Buildings that was launched on July 1 last year, Kuan pointed out that about 3,000 households have benefited from the subsidy programme with 10 million patacas paid out.
Kuan said that in the future, her company will also strengthen cooperation with higher education institutions, set up a student training base, and coorganise Continuing Professional Development courses on construction and urban planning with professional associations, aiming to foster the development of local professional talents.
Yesterday’s spring luncheon, which was attended by representatives from the local press and media agencies operating in Macau, aimed to thank the mass media for their constant attention to and generous support of the company’s tap water supply services and for their role in “effectively” connecting the company with the public, in addition to intensifying mutual communication, according to a statement by the public concession company.
Macao Water Executive Director Nacky Kuan Sio Peng (front, 10th from left) poses with senior local Chinese-, Portuguese- and English-language media representatives during yesterday’s Media Spring Luncheon at MGM Macau in Nape. – Photo: MPDG
