Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario has decided to launch an investigation into the operation of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) as well as disciplinary procedures against its former director Fong Soi Kun, the Government Spokesperson’s Office (GPV) said in a statement yesterday.
According to the statement, Rosario made the decision after studying a report released last week by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) on the findings of an investigation into the weather bureau over its widely criticised typhoon forecasting process and internal management.
The report released by the anti-graft body on Thursday shows that the weather bureau, when forecasting typhoons and hoisting typhoon warning signals, simply relied on the personal judgement and decisions of Fong – who resigned the day after Super Typhoon Hato hit Macau in late August, killing 10, injuring 244 and causing damage estimated by the government at over 11 billion patacas.
The then director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG), Fong Soi Kun, speaks to reporters on August 23 during a special press conference held by the government at the Secretariat for Security (GSS) in the S. Francisco Barracks about Typhoon Hato which killed 10 people. He resigned the next morning. Photo: Tony Wong
