The government will delay its plan to transfer the Inner Harbour’s cargo business to Ka Ho Port in Coloane, as the plan’s implementation would increase logistical costs and involve employment issues, Zheng Anting, who heads the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) Follow-up Committee for Public Administration Affairs, said on Monday.
Zheng, an entrepreneur, made the remarks after a closed-door meeting of the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) Follow-up Committee for Public Adminstration Affairs at the legislature’s building in Nam Van.
The committee monitored and reviewed two issues on Monday – the situation and development of the logistics industry in the Inner Harbour and the measures in place for preventing suicide – the head of the committee, Zheng told reporters on Monday.
Zheng quoted the government as saying that Macau’s annual cargo throughput is about 130,000 to 140,000 shipping containers, with 40 percent handled in Ka Ho Port and 60 percent in the Inner Harbour, adding that if all the container business was to be relocated to the Ka Ho Port, it would lead to saturation there, therefore, the working hours of the shipping companies there would have to be lengthened, which would involve increased management and employment costs.
Zheng quoted the government as saying that it will reconsider the transfer, taking into account the actual situation, and launch more comprehensive planning.
In addition, Zheng quoted government officials as telling lawmakers that the psychiatric department of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre mainly deals with serious mental illnesses, totalling about 50,000 consultations a year, while the mental health services provided by psychotherapists in the city’s health centres offered 6,000 consultations last year. Zheng also said that the psychological counselling services run by local associations and subsidised by the Health Bureau (SSM) could provide more than 4,000 consultations a year.
This undated file photo downloaded from the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) last night shows Macau’s Inner Harbour.
