The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday passed a government-initiated bill to regulate the operation and supervision of the city’s public enterprises, the new law will take effect on November 1 after promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO).
Sónia Chan Hoi Fan, a former secretary for Administration and Justice who heads the Public Assets Supervision and Planning Office (GPSAP), attended a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday afternoon which passed the bill.
Chan said that the government will set up a new bureau replacing her office to assess public enterprises’ performance. She pointed out that her office has only 10 staff, which was not enough, adding that it was difficult to recruit people “from the open job market”. Therefore, Chan suggested that the bureau’s should recruit civil servants from other public administration entities.
Some lawmakers asked her to clarify the government’s policy monitoring the openness and transparency of public enterprises. Chan reaffirmed that the new law stipulates that public enterprises’ information should be fully disclosed and subject to public supervision on the premise of not harming them, adding that the government will categorise the nature of different public enterprises when implementing its assessment and control measures.
The law stipulates that the government can take appropriate measures to rectify the performance of a public enterprise which fails to meet its expected targets, and that any staff member of a public enterprise who violates its principles may not only be suspended, but could also face criminal punishment.
Sónia Chan Hoi Fan, a former secretary for Administration and Justice who heads the Public Assets Supervision and Planning Office (GPSAP), addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle during lawmakers’ second and final reading of a bill regulating the operation and supervision of the city’s public enterprises. – Photo courtesy of TDM
