Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On said yesterday that the government is still translating – from the Chinese language into Portuguese – an investigative report drafted by a special commission tasked with probing whether any government entities or officials were at fault in their response to deadly Super Typhoon Hato.
Chui made the remarks when answering questions from several lawmakers during a Q&A plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday afternoon. The session was broadcast by government-owned TV and radio station TDM.
Directly-elected lawmakers Jose Maria Pereira Coutinho, Sulu Sou Ka Hou and Agnes Lam Iok Fong asked Chui how the government will improve its accountability system for officials in the wake of the Hato disaster.
Super Typhoon Hato pummelled Macau on August 23, causing massive flooding, killing 10, injuring 244 and resulting in damage officially estimated at over 11 billion patacas.
The session came a day after Chui delivered his 2018 Policy Address.
In his question, Coutinho said that he had requested the government to launch an investigation into the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) over its controversial handling of Typhoon Nida’s warning signals, after Typhoon Nida hit Macau in August last year. He said that there was, however, no response from the government. He also said that eventually last month’s report by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) confirmed his complaint about the weather bureau’s various long-standing malpractices in its internal management.
The report released by the anti-graft body last month showed that the weather bureau, when forecasting typhoons and hoisting typhoon warning signals, simply relied on the personal judgement and decisions of its former director Fong Soi Kun – who resigned the day after Super Typhoon Hato hit Macau.
The CCAC launched the investigation into the weather bureau in late August. The investigation was also focused on Fong’s controversial handling of Hato’s warning signals.
Several days after the CCAC released the report, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario decided to launch an investigation into the operation of the observatory as well as disciplinary procedures against Fong.
Coutinho yesterday asked Chui whether Fong and related senior officials should be held responsible politically for the weather station’s malpractices.
In reply, Chui said that after Hato hit Macau, he had ordered the setting-up of a special commission tasked with investigating whether the relevant government entities and officials fulfilled their duties in response to the Hato aftermath and whether they carried out proper disaster relief measures.
Chui announced in early September that he had decided to set up the special commission to carry out the investigation. He appointed Assistant Prosecutor-General Mai Man Ieng, University of Macau (UM) Professor Iu Vai Pan and auditor Louisa Ho Mei Va as the three members of the investigative commission. Iu, a former UM rector, is a civil engineering professor.
Chui said yesterday that it took the three-member special commission 45 days to carry out the investigation, after which it took the commission 20 days to draft a report on the investigation. He said that the special commission had submitted the investigative report to the government, adding that the government was now translating the report.
Chui pledged that the government will release the report once the translation is finished.
In his question, Sou criticised Chui – as the chief executive – for avoiding political responsibility for the Hato disaster almost three months after the super-typhoon devastated Macau.
Sou, who is facing trial for aggravated disobedience during a protest outside Chui’s residence, said that Chui was also to blame for the Hato disaster, as he had ignored the long-standing malpractices of the weather bureau. He also said that Chui had done little to enhance disaster-prevention infrastructures during the eight years he has been in office.
Sou said that the Hato disaster was a partially man-made disaster. He asked Chui whether he will hold himself politically responsible for the Hato disaster.
In reply, Chui reaffirmed that the investigation by the special commission covered all the government entities and officials – including the policy secretary who oversees the weather bureau and all the other senior officials.
Rosario oversees the weather station.
In her question, Lam said that the Hato disaster showed that the government administers Macau poorly. She also said that the government had failed to improve the city’s drainage system and other flood-control projects in the Inner Harbour area for a long time. She also said that the Hato disaster showed that there is a lack of an accountability system and a performance evaluation system for officials in Macau.
In reply, Chui pledged that his government will review its existing system of official accountability.
Yesterday’s Q&A plenary session lasted around three hours, during which Chui answered 30 prepared questions from lawmakers, one from each. The legislature has 33 members, including the speaker of the legislature.
Lawmaker-cum-unionist Jose Maria Pereira Coutinho speaks during yesterday’s Q&A plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle. Photos: MPDG
Lawmaker-cum-scholar Agnes Lam Iok Fong speaks during yesterday’s Q&A plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle. This photo was taken from Lam’s Facebook page last night.
