The Macau government launches a 50-day public consultation today on the drafting of a bill regulating the use of the city’s coastal waters, proposing the formal establishment of a system on granting private entities a concession or permit to use designated maritime areas for a certain period of time.
The ongoing public consultation also covers the drafting of an official plan for the coastal waters’ marine functional zoning as well as an official master plan for the use and development of the coastal waters.
The Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) held a press conference yesterday about the public consultation. The press conference, which was hosted by DSAMA Director Susana Wong Soi Man and three other DSAMA officials, was held at the bureau’s office in the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal in Zape.
The bureau is headquartered near Barra.
Two sessions for members of the general public, and one session for representatives from community associations and the respective sectors, will be held during the consultation period, which will end on February 16.
Details of the public consultation document can be accessed at: https://www.marine.gov.mo/subpage.aspx?a_id=1666921595. The document is available in Chinese and Portuguese.
On December 20, 2015, i.e., the 16th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), the central government granted Macau formal jurisdiction over its coastal waters covering 85 square kilometres. Previously, unlike Hong Kong, Macau did not have formal jurisdiction over its coastal waters. The city’s current land area amounts to 33.3 square kilometres.
Afterwards, in July 2018, Macau enacted its current framework law on the management of its coastal waters, officially known as Maritime Areas Management Framework Law.
The current framework law lists the objectives of the local government’s management of the city’s coastal waters as well as the principles with which the local government must comply when managing the maritime areas.
The framework law stipulates that the city’s coastal waters are owned by the nation and that the central government authorises the MSAR government to exercise its administrative power to manage the coastal waters.
The framework law requires the local government to draft laws and regulations on the management of Macau’s coastal waters. The framework law also enables the MSAR government to allow certain entities to use certain maritime areas by granting a concession or permit or through other official means, which is to be regulated by a specific piece of legislation.
The public consultation document proposes that private entities must obtain formal permission from the MSAR government to use the city’s maritime areas.
The consultation document proposes that the chief executive can grant private entities a concession to use a maritime area for a relatively long time or grant them a “temporary” permit to use a maritime area only for a short period of time.
According to the consultation document, the government proposes that a concession will only be granted to public utilities or other entities that apply to use a maritime area for the provision of public services. The document proposes that a concession will last between 2 and 15 years and that it can be renewed for up to five years each time.
During the press conference, Wong underlined that private entities “which do not have a background” of providing public welfare services or other public services will not be granted a concession to use a maritime area.
Wong also clarified that the construction of new piers for yachts or other vessels is regulated by the city’s urban land development plans.
The document proposes that the government will only grant a “temporary” permit to private entities which apply to use a maritime area for launching a “short-term” project there, in which case they will be only allowed to set up the respective facilities “on a temporary basis”.
The government proposes that a temporary permit will last up to two years and that it can be renewed for also up to two years each time.
The document proposes that private entities which have been allowed to use a maritime area will have to pay a fee every year but the fee can be exempted under special circumstances.
According to the current framework law on the management of its coastal waters, the MSAR government is required to draft its official plan for the coastal waters’ marine functional zoning in compliance with the framework of the nation’s marine functional zoning.
In addition, the MSAR government is also required to draft its official master plan for the use and development of the city’s coastal waters in compliance with its marine functional zoning.
According to the document, the local government proposes that the two official plans will be valid until 2040.
This map released by the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) yesterday shows its proposed marine functional zoning plan for Macau’s coastal waters.
