Lawmakers pass arbitration bill

The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday passed the outline of a government-initiated bill regulating the city’s arbitration procedures, which aims to encourage residents to choose arbitration as an alternative means of dispute resolution.Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan introduced the outline of the bill, which is to replace the city’s current rules on the arbitration process, during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.According to Chan,

June 7, 2018 | BY admin

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CE vows to support BRI with local advantages

Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On said yesterday that the local government will continue to support the building of “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), adding that in building the BRI, the central government had given Macau enormous support, and also it was Macau’s responsibility to contribute.Chui made the remarks during a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 International Conference On the Belt and Road and Macau’s Development at Macau Tower yesterday.The first conference

June 7, 2018 | BY admin

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SJM wants 2-year extension for gaming licence

SJM Chairman of the Board of Directors Ambrose So Shu Fai said that by extending its current gaming licence for two more years, all six concessionaires’ licence would expire at the same time, so they could start the bidding process for the new licence at the same pace, which would be a more “logical” arrangement.So made the comments on the sideline of the opening of the “Macau Gaming History Gallery” at Hotel Lisboa’s Crystal Palace.SJM and MGM’s gaming licence expires in 2020,

June 7, 2018 | BY admin

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Govt grants Cecilia Tse 2-year unpaid leave

Macau Government Tourism Bureau (MGTO) chief advisor Cecilia Tse Heng Sai, who was formerly appointed Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) president, has been granted two years of unpaid leave starting from June 14.The dispatch was published in the Official Gazette yesterday. The approval, signed by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng on May 18, does not give a reason for her leave of absence.Tse was previously MGTO deputy director before she was appointed IC president at the

June 7, 2018 | BY admin

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Govt consults public on changes to vocational education rules

The government yesterday launched a 40-day public consultation about its proposed changes to the current rules on the city’s vocational education system with the aim of enabling vocational education pupils to be more competitive in the job market.The city’s schools are allowed to run vocational training in F4 to F6, according to the Non-higher Education System Framework Law enacted in 2006.The Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) made the announcement during a press conference

June 7, 2018 | BY admin

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Govt to consult public on tougher traffic offence penalties

The government will launch a two-month public consultation late this month on the drafting of a bill amending the current Road Traffic Law, with the aim of combating traffic offences more effectively and thereby improving the city’s road safety.The amendment bill proposes that the penalties for various traffic violations be raised significantly, such as illegal parking, speeding and drink-driving.A press conference about the public consultation was held yesterday at the Transport Bureau

June 6, 2018 | BY admin

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Senior PSP officer scams colleague in forex fraud

A senior Public Security Police (PSP) officer has been caught cheating a fellow PSP officer out of HK$80,000, the website of the Secretariat for Security (GSS) said yesterday.During a regular police press conference in Zape yesterday, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai identified the suspect as a PSP policewoman in her forties surnamed Ho, who joined the force in 1991. Choi revealed that the victim is a retired male officer, who worked with Ho for over 10 years.Choi said that last

June 6, 2018 | BY admin

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Crematorium to cost up to 400 million patacas: govt

According to information provided by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), the government is slated to invite tenders for the construction of Macau’s first crematorium next year, with the cost expected to be between 300 million and 400 million patacas, Ku Man Tat, member of the Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council, said yesterday during a post-meeting press briefing at the Islands District Public Services Centre in Taipa.During a plenary session in November, IACM

June 6, 2018 | BY admin

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Cabbie blackmails passengers: police

The police arrested a taxi driver on Sunday for allegedly extorting HK$3,000 from three of his male passengers by claiming that one of them had damaged one of the doors on his vehicle, the Public Security Police (PSP) said in a statement yesterday, adding that none of the three passengers had caused any damage to the taxi.The police identified the male cabbie as a 25-year-old surnamed Lei. The three passengers, aged between 32 and 47, are mainlanders, the police said.According to the statement,

June 6, 2018 | BY admin

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Possibly No. 3 storm warning signal today: observatory

The Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) said in a statement yesterday evening that it would possibly hoist the No. 3 storm warning signal during the day today.The weather station hoisted the No. 1 warning signal at 10:45 a.m. yesterday.According to the bureau’s website, a tropical depression was located about 380 kilometres south-west of Macau at 8 p.m. yesterday. It was heading north at around 15 kilometres per hour, moving towards the southern island province of Hainan.This map

June 6, 2018 | BY admin

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Polytex wants 60 billion pataca compensation from govt: report

The locally registered Polytex Import and Export Co. Ltd. will demand from the government at least 60 billion patacas in compensation if the government fails to grant the land concession of the mothballed Pearl Horizon mixed-used property project to company again, the Portuguese-language newspaper Hoje Macau reported yesterday.The daily quoted the company’s lawyer, Executive Council member Leonel Alves, as saying that Polytex would take the government to court over the 60 billion pataca

June 6, 2018 | BY admin

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Eco-groups urge residents to shun bottled water

Three local environmental advocacy groups – the Association of Synergy of Macau, Green Future and Macau Less Plastic Lifestyle – co-launched a map yesterday that shows the locations of water fountains around the city, with the aim of encouraging the public to get their potable water from bubblers instead of buying bottled water.The launch was held at a press conference on the premises of the Association of Synergy of Macau in the city centre, on the eve of today’s World Environment Day

June 5, 2018 | BY admin

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Cabbie overcharges, insults passengers in 2 cases last month: police

The police have confirmed that the taxi driver who infamously overcharged a family of four from Hong Kong late last month is the same rogue cabbie who overcharged two female mainlanders earlier last month, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lei Tak Fai said during a regular press conference yesterday.The case involving the Hong Kong family made headlines in the neighbouring special administrative region.Lei identified the male cabbie as a 27-year-old surnamed Choi.This photo retrieved

June 5, 2018 | BY admin

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Man robs illegal money changer in guestroom: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a man from the mainland on Sunday for robbing a female money changer in a guestroom of a casino-hotel resort in Cotai earlier that day, PJ spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a special press conference yesterday in the PJ headquarters in Zape.Choi identified the suspect as a 49-year-old surnamed Li. The victim in her thirties is also a mainlander who is running an unlicensed currency-exchange business in Macau.Before the robbery, the victim had carried out

June 5, 2018 | BY admin

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