The government has abolished its Public Administration Reform Coordination Committee, which was initially established in 2007 and whose duties and functions were amended in 2017, according to an executive order published in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
The order, which takes effect today, was signed by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng last Wednesday.
The committee had been chaired by the government’s secretary for administration and justice, consisting of several other officials.
After its establishment in 2007, the committee had been tasked with planning and formulating strategies and measures aiming to achieve the government’s public administration reform.
The committee had also been tasked with formulating plans with the aim of achieving the government’s then “roadmap” for public administration reform, but this task was removed when the committee’s operation was amended in 2017.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon told lawmakers in April 2022 that the government was considering the possibility of axing its Public Administration Reform Coordination Committee. Cheong said at that time that regular meetings between Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and the government’s policy secretaries enabled full and in-depth discussions on matters concerning public administration reform, because of which the committee’s operation was “meaningless”. Cheong also acknowledged the committee’s “very low” efficiency in helping the government achieve its public administration reform objectives.
With its establishment on December 20, 1999, the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) was headed by Edmund Ho Hau Wah until December 20, 2009 when he was succeeded by Fernando Chui Sai On. Ho Iat Seng succeeded Chui on December 20, 2019.
The government also set up its Public Administration Reform Consultative Council in 2007, whose organisational structure was streamlined in 2022. It is a government-appointed body tasked with advising the government on its public administration reform policies.
Since its establishment in 2007, the Public Administration Reform Consultative Council had consisted of nine government officials and at least 16 appointed members from civil society. After having been streamlined in 2022, the council now consists of three government officials and up to 12 appointed members from civil society.
In February last year, Ho Iat Seng’s government also abolished two disaster-response committees as part of its work to streamline the public administration, namely the Committee for Responding to Unforeseen Incidents established in 2012 and the Committee for the Review of the Mechanism for Responding to Major Disasters and its Follow-up and Improvement established in 2017.
The government set up the 2017 committee in late August that year in the wake of the deadly Super Typhoon Hato that pummelled Macau on August 23, 2017 when 10 people perished. The government underlined at that time that the functions of the 2012 and 2017 committees were different.
This undated photo taken from the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s (IC) website yesterday shows Government Headquarters in Nam Van.
