Within 11 days, two customs officers and a prison guard have been accused of serious offences and disciplinary procedures, and Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak underlined yesterday that all the bureaus and other entities overseen by his portfolio will constantly review and improve their internal supervision mechanism, strengthen the rigid disciplinary management of their staff members, continue to remind them to strictly abide by the law and follow disciplinary rules through different channels, and seriously deal with those who breached the law and regulations, stressing that no violations had ever been glossed over and all cases had always been investigated and handled in accordance with legal procedures.
The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) said in a statement on April 30 that it had uncovered two customs officers abusing their sick leave by cheating the Macau Customs Service (SA) out of illicitly earned salaries amounting to 1.7 million patacas and 1.3 million patacas respectively.
Wong told the media on the sidelines of yesterday’s Fire Services Bureau (CB) Open Day that the two officers had been absent from work due to their purported illnesses since 2016 and 2018 respectively, and that the Customs Service had initiated internal procedures in accordance with the law, such has visiting their homes, and had required the two officers to present themselves to the government’s Medical Board more than 40 and 20 times respectively to confirm whether their purported illnesses were genuine and absences were justified, pointing out that “the procedures were entirely adequate”.
According to Wong, in March and April 2021, after the Customs Service’s internal investigation, the latter considered that there was sufficient evidence to justify the dismissal of the two officers. Wong added that one of the officers had earlier been subject to disciplinary proceedings for absence from duty for more than five consecutive days without reasonable excuse and other disciplinary matters and was dismissed from his post in December last year: “The relevant entity has never covered up any case and never tolerated any disciplinary offences, but followed the legal procedures in carrying out the investigations and imposing the lawful penalties from the beginning to the end…… and the two cases were even reported to the chief executive.”
‘Very shocked and outraged’
Regarding the transfer of a local prison officer to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday for allegedly extorting an ex-prisoner out of a total of 78,000 patacas on several occasions since 2021, Wong said he was “very shocked and outraged” by the incident, pointing out that the situation was “very serious”, which had damaged the image and reputation of the public security portfolio and undermined ex-convicts’ confidence and determination to reintegrate into civil society.
Wong underlined that “upon receipt of the notification from the Judiciary Police (PJ), I immediately requested the arrest of the suspect at the scene and an in-depth investigation to ascertain whether there are any other ex-prisoners that have been the victims of extortion,” adding that the Correctional Services Bureau (DSC) has been requested to evaluate and conduct in-depth investigations into its supervisory mechanism, and if it is found that any other extortion reports have not been handled properly, the respective supervisors and superiors will be dealt with “seriously”.
“Through these cases, we can see that a comprehensive review of the legal system of public service, as well as the administrative and supervisory aspects of public service is required, and we will make improvements to the relevant legal system in accordance with the instructions given by the chief executive to make up for the inadequacies, follow up on and solve the relevant issues thoroughly, and, at the same time, we will strengthen the disciplinary management of the bureaus and other entities in the area of public security,” Wong said.
Details of any breaches by his portfolio’s staff members will always be announced on his office’s website, according to Wong, who said: “In addition to informing the public of disciplinary problems and carrying out supervision, this also enables the disciplined services to monitor themselves, remind themselves of their duties, identify problems at any time, and continue to do a good job in disciplinary management…… There is no fear of disclosing the existence of any case, as long as it is treated seriously and punished severely, which is the attitude that the public security forces should adopt in their management”.
Meanwhile, as during public holidays the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) tends to be seriously congested, Wong said that thanks to continuous communication between the relevant authorities in the mainland and Macau, and the implementation of the improvement programme of co-management by traffic police officers from both sides, the traffic situation during public holidays has been “significantly” improved, adding that his office will continue to strengthen liaison with the mainland to speed up vehicular traffic on the mega-bridge.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak (front), flanked by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) Commissioner Leong Iok Sam (left) and Acting Deputy Commissioner Lam Chon Sang, speaks to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s Fire Services Bureau Open Day at the CB headquarters in Nam Van. – Photo: Yuki Lei
