Regarding the revelation that hundreds of low quality Portuguese-style blue- and- white porcelain street nameplates were discovered a few months ago, with contractors suspected of fraud in the production process, the Office of the Secretary for Administration and Justice announced on Thursday its internal investigation into the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), pointing out that the incident had caused a negative social impact and recommending that the chief executive should make adjustments to the bureau’s leadership.
In early September this year, it was revealed that a number of Macau’s street nameplates, which should have shown underglaze colours on ceramic tiles in line with the bureau’s official craftsmanship requirements, were affixed with stickers, with large areas yellowing and peeling off, arousing heated discussions and criticisms from the community. The bureau subsequently issued a statement noting that it had reported the case to the Judiciary Police (PJ) after discovering that a number of local street nameplates had been produced in a manner grossly inconsistent with the underglaze-coloured tiles required for use in the project and suspected the contractor of being involved in fraud. On September 17, the Judiciary Police announced the arrest of two project managers of the street nameplates contractors suspected of cheating the government out of 1.1 million patacas with 362 subpar street nameplates.
Following the completion of the police’s arrest of the relevant personnel involved in the incident and their transfer to the judicial authorities, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon authorised the launching of an internal investigation into the bureau for its “negligence and mismanagement in the incident” and announced in a statement on Thursday the results of the investigation.
According to the statement, as early as June this year, IAM staff discovered during their inspections that certain street nameplates were plastic sheets with street names printed on the ceramic tiles, but they did not notify their superiors at the time and take effective follow-up actions. It was not until early September that the bureau realised the seriousness of the problem and decided to take remedial measures by reporting the case to the police and replacing the subpar street nameplates.
The statement pointed out that the incident revealed the lack of system development and mismanagement within the bureau’s works portfolio, and that the relevant leaders and supervisors should be held responsible accordingly, with the need to discipline some of the IAM supervisory staff as “some of these staff members may have committed disciplinary offences and will be subject to further investigation under the corresponding disciplinary procedures”.
Chao Wai Ieng appointed IAM president after José Tavares steps down
Meanwhile, taking effect this Wednesday Chao Wai Ieng, the outgoing director of the Identification Services Bureau (DSI), will be succeeding José Tavares as chairman of the Municipal Affairs Bureau’s administration committee, with a one-year appointment, according to an executive order signed by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai and published in the Official Gazette (BO) later Thursday.
The executive order also noted that Mak Kim Meng, currently a member of the bureau’s administration committee, will be promoted to the committee’s vice-chairman, also effective on Wednesday for a period of one year.
Tavares, who has served as the IAM president since 2016, told the local media on Saturday after his last plenary meeting at the IAM headquarters that he had expressed in June and July this year to Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon that he would like to retire at the end of this year, and the secretary subsequently agreed to it. He thanked “his colleagues, supervisors, friends, the various sectors of the community and residents for their help and support during his 40 years of being a public servant”.
This file photo taken in July this year shows the outgoing Identification Services Bureau (DSI) Director Chao Wai Ieng, who will be succeeding José Tavares as chairman of the Municipal Affairs Bureau’s administration committee on Wednesday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
