The New Macau Association (NMA) said yesterday that Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On should take full responsibility for the Hato debacle by resigning, because as the head of the city’s civil protection he performed poorly when responding to the disaster that killed 10 and injured over 200.
The association held a press conference yesterday at its office in Nam Van about the aftermath of the super typhoon which hit Macau last Wednesday and how the government should be held accountable for its controversial response to the city’s fiercest typhoon in over five decades.
NMA Vice President Sulu Sou Ka Hou said that the city was basically back to normal, adding that now was the time that members of the public should ask Chui to take responsibility.
Sou is a candidate in the upcoming September 17 direct legislative election.
Sou said the government should revise its emergency response procedures in order to avoid another typhoon disaster.
Sou said that while the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has launched an investigation into the controversial response of the local weather bureau to Typhoon Hato, the anti-graft body should also investigate Chui.
Sou also said the Hato disaster showed that Macau was too dependent on electricity supplied from the mainland. He said the percentage of electricity supplied from the mainland had significantly risen over the past decade, adding that the government
should increase the amount of electricity generated locally.
According to previous media reports, the mainland provided about 80 percent of Macau’s electricity.
Sou said that the chaos after Typhoon Hato hit Macau showed that Chui failed to perform as the person in charge of civil protection
operations.
Sou also said Chui had not done anything to improve the drainage system in the Inner Harbour area since he took office eight years ago.
Sou said that combining all the factors, Chui should take full responsibility and resign.
Chui admitted at a press conference last week that “not enough” had been done to tackle the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Hato.
Asked by The Macau Post Daily about the NMA activists’ call for Chui to resign, an official source said that Chui was “a man with a
great sense of duty”. The source, who asked not to be named, added, “Chui is not a quitter.”
Mew Macau Association (NMA) Vice President Sulu Sou Ka Hou addresses yesterday’s press conference about the government’s handling of the Hato disaster, at the group’s office in Nam Van. Photo: Tony Wong
