The government has set up a new working group aiming to “fundamentally” minimise the adverse impact of roadworks on residents by improving its cross-departmental coordination of roadwork projects, chaired by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man, who convened its first meeting earlier this week.
According to a statement by Tam’s office on Tuesday, Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai decided to set up the working group on Monday last week, after which the group held its first meeting on Tuesday this week.
The statement said that the newly established working group, officially known as Working Group for Optimising the Coordination of Roadwork Projects, is tasked with reviewing the operation of the government’s current mechanisms for coordinating the city’s roadwork projects and making the necessary improvements to the mechanism.
The working group comprises officials from various public entities.
Chairing the meeting, according to the statement, Tam ordered the members of the working group to “strengthen interdepartmental communication and coordination, improve the supervision mechanism, adopt a forward-looking approach, plan roadwork projects and make the necessary preparations in advance, and effectively monitor projects’ quality and duration”.
Tam said that the working group is tasked with improving and streamlining the administrative procedures for entities involved in roadwork projects in terms of different aspects such as applications, coordination and approval processes.
During the meeting, according to the statement, Tam raised five main directions that the working group must comply with for its task of improving the coordination of roadwork projects.
Firstly, Tam said that the working group must plan roadwork projects with a forward-looking approach and reserve space for the installation of underground pipes and cables, with the aim of avoiding repeated excavations.
Secondly, Tam ordered the working group to rigorously assess roadwork projects’ duration proposed by the respective entities based on pragmatic principles, with the aim of minimising the projects’ duration.
Thirdly, Tam said that the working group must encourage the applications of new equipment, new materials, and new techniques.
Fourthly, Tam ordered the working group to review and streamline the government’s administrative procedures for assessing and approving applications for roadwork projects.
Fifthly, Tam said that the working group must strengthen promotional campaigns and improve the transparency of roadwork projects, with the aim of enabling residents to gain a better understanding of the projects’ details and their necessity.
Community representatives and commentators have long complained that Macau is virtually constantly being affected by repetitive roadworks, referring to a situation where roadworks are started again after only a relatively short period of time when the road had been dug up on the same section.
One of the main reasons causing the woes, the community representatives have said, is the government’s widely perceived poor cross-departmental coordination of different roadwork projects needed to install underground pipes and cables run by different public utilities.
The establishment of the new working group for improving the coordination of roadwork projects last week came after Sam set up five leadership, coordination, or working groups last month aiming to advance the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, the local government’s public administrative reform, as well as improvements in Macau’s legal system and in its urban and municipal facilities.
Workers carry out roadworks in a section of Rua do Almirante Sérgio (河邊新街) in the Inner Harbour district on Wednesday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
