The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday rejected two debate motions, both proposed by directly-elected lawmaker-cum-current affairs commentator Ron Lam U Tou.
In his first debate motion, Lam proposed that the government should legalise private-car ride-hailing by establishing a system regulating such services with the aim of tackling Macau’s protracted predicament where it is difficult for locals and visitors alike to hail a taxi.
In his second debate motion, Lam proposed that the government should consult the public about the possibility of building a crematorium in Macau.
The 33-member legislature comprises 14 directly-elected seats, 12 indirectly-elected seats and seven government-appointed seats.
During yesterday’s plenary session, a total of 28 lawmakers voted against Lam’s first debate motion, while one abstained from voting. Only two legislators, Lam and José Maria Pereira Coutinho, voted in favour.
A total of 27 lawmakers voted against Lam’s second debate motion, while one abstained. Only three legislators, Lam, Coutinho and Che Sai Wang, voted in favour.
If a debate motion is passed by lawmakers during a plenary session, the legislature will then request government officials to attend another plenary session in the near future for a formal and public debate between the officials and legislators on the matter raised by the debate motion. Yesterday’s rejection of the two debate motions means that the legislature will not schedule plenary sessions for debates for either of the two debate motions.
In his first debate motion, Lam said that his calculations based on official data show that since 2020, about 700 eight-year-validity common taxi licences will expire by the end of this year.
Lam noted that the government launched a public tender in October last year for the granting of 10 eight-year taxi company licences each of which will be allowed to operate up to 50 common taxis, thereby up to 500 new taxis in total.
Lam noted that the government completed assessing the accepted bids for the tender earlier this year. He said that even when all the up to 500 new taxis come into service, they will not be enough to replace the number of taxis whose licences have expired over the past few years as well as those that will expire soon.
Consequently, Lam said, when the 500 new taxis start operating, the total number of taxis then would still be unable to meet the growing demand from locals and visitors for taxi rides.
Lam noted that in various countries and regions such as the mainland, the authorities have legalised and regulated platforms for private-car ride-hailing services.
Lam said that the government should reference other places’ experiences and study the possibility of setting-up a system regulating private-car ride-hailing services.
In his second debate motion, Lam noted that bodies of those who died of infectious diseases are not allowed to be transported to the mainland for cremation.
Currently, corpses of people who died in Macau have to be transported to the mainland for cremation as Macau does not have a crematorium.
Lam noted that in case Macau is hit by a large-scale infectious disease outbreak where a relatively high number of people die of it, burying a large number of bodies is not conducive for epidemic prevention and control.
Lam noted that the Macau government has not come up with any proposal to build a crematorium, after it axed its plan to build a crematorium in Taipa Sa Kong Municipal Cemetery in 2018 due to opposition from residents living nearby.
A black taxi and a radio taxi behind it stop at the traffic light-controlled crossing outside the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) headquarters on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro yesterday. – Photo: Tony Wong
