Horse-racing concession extended for 24.5 years: Leong

Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said yesterday that the government will extend the Macau Jockey Club’s (MJC) horse-racing concession, which was slated to expire today, for 24 years and six months to August 31, 2042.Leong made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the Bank of China (BOC) Building in Nam Van on the sidelines of a Chinese New Year reception hosted by the Macau Association of Banks (ABM).When the company’s horse-racing concession expired in late

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Cotai Water Jet, Cathay Pacific ink codeshare deal

Ferry operator Cotai Water Jet and Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific have signed a codeshare agreement that will make it easier and faster to book ferry tickets to Macau for passengers flying to Hong Kong, gaming resort company Sands China, which owns Cotai Water Jet, said in a statement yesterday.According to the statement, “this arrangement simplifies the purchasing process, provides greater passengers assurance, boosts journey connectivity and enhances accessibility to

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Stable hand arrested over horse’s death: police

The police arrested a man on Friday over alleged cruelty to a horse, which eventually led to the thoroughbred’s death last August, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a regular press conference yesterday.Choi said the Judiciary Police received the case from the Public Prosecution Office (MP) about the unusual death of a horse, and was asked to investigate it.According to Choi, the suspect is a male staff member from Hong Kong who worked at the stable. The surname of the

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Retail sales top 66 billion patacas in 2017

Macau’s total value of retail sales rose 12.6 percent year on year to 66.26 billion patacas last year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) said in a statement yesterday.According to the statement, retail sales of timepieces and jewellery accounted for 22.3 percent of the total value.Retail sales of leather goods (+22.4 percent), timepieces and jewellery (+17.0 percent), and cosmetic and sanitary articles (+15.2 percent) recorded major growth rates. PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN OUR

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Speaker urges govt to improve submission of tax bills

Legislative Assembly (AL) President Ho Iat Seng said yesterday that the legislature would study with the government ways to improve the latter’s submission of urgent taxation bills to the legislature as well as their debate and voting procedures.Ho, an indirectly-elected lawmaker representing the city’s business sector, is the sole Macau member of the elite Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing.Ho made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Galaxy gives pay-rise, paternity leave from April

Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) is giving eligible staff a pay rise ranging from 2.5 percent to 8 percent, as well as bringing in five-day paid paternity leave, both of which will start from April, the gaming operator said in a statement yesterday.According to the statement, over 70 percent of the staff will have higher than a 2.5 percent salary increase.The statement said that staff at senior manager grade and below who joined the company on or before April 1, 2018 would get a salary review

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Vietnamese maid nabbed for slapping toddler: police

A Vietnamese domestic helper was arrested yesterday for slapping a one-year-old toddler, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a regular press conference yesterday in Zape.According to Choi, the suspect is a 35-year-old Vietnamese woman surnamed Nguyen, who has been working for a local family in Areia Preta since 2016. She was responsible for looking after the family’s one-year-old toddler, and a two-year-old child.Choi said that on Monday morning the children’s father

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Theme park reaches just 10 pct of visitor capacity

Visitor numbers to the live action role-playing theme park Planet J in Cotai have only reached 10 percent of the venue’s capacity, its director Damon Chan Kwok Wah said yesterday.Chan made the remarks while speaking to reporters prior to giving local government officials a tour around Planet J at Sands Cotai Central.Chan said that the since the opening last July, the average number of visitors to the theme park had only reached 10 percent of its annual capacity of 7 million visits.Planet J

February 28, 2018 | BY admin

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Fisherman’s Wharf lowers height of hotel project by 1/3

The Fisherman’s Wharf theme park in the Outer Harbour is going back to its original plan of building a 60-metre-high hotel instead of one with a height of 90 metres, a one-third reduction, in response to public concern, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf International Investment Ltd. President Melinda Chan Mei Yi said yesterday.Chan, the wife of Macau Legend Group Co-chairman and CEO David Chow Kam Fai, made the announcement while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Spring Festival media lunch

February 27, 2018 | BY admin

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US-Chinese lensman tries to rob gambler: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a male suspect on Sunday for attempting to rob a gambler who had hit a lucky streak at the Venetian in Cotai, PJ spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a special press conference yesterday.Choi identified the suspect as a 38-year-old Chinese American surnamed Zhang who told the police that he works as a photographer. The victim is a man in his fifties from the mainland.According to Choi, shortly after 3 p.m. on Sunday the victim changed gaming chips worth

February 27, 2018 | BY admin

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Developer calls for mortgage rules to be determined by flat size

Association of Property Agents and Realty Developers of Macau Chairman Ung Choi Kun said yesterday he believed that the maximum mortgage rates available – as required by the government – to local first-time young home buyers should be determined by the size of the residential unit purchased rather than by the purchase price of the flat.Ung made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Chinese New Year reception hosted by his association at Plaza Restaurant in Zape.The

February 27, 2018 | BY admin

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New ‘Water Market’ to open next week

Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) President Jose Fonseca Tavares said yesterday that the new Patane Market Municipal Complex will come into service next Tuesday.Tavares made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Chinese New Year reception hosted by the Association of Property Agents and Realty Developers of Macau at Plaza Restaurant in Zape.Tavares said that his bureau would arrange a media visit to the wet market building tomorrow.This undated file photo

February 27, 2018 | BY admin

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Lit ciggies probable cause of hotel fire: police

A fire at Mandarin Oriental Macau is believed to have been caused by still lit cigarette ends thrown by residents of a neighbouring residential building, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a regular press conference yesterday in Zape.The five-star hotel is located next to One Central, in Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Nape.On Saturday morning the Fire Services Bureau (CB) received a call from the hotel saying that some of its outdoor facilities on the fourth floor had been

February 27, 2018 | BY admin

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Mainlander cheats money changer out of HK$68,700: police

A man from the mainland was arrested last week for stealing HK$68,700 from an unlicensed money changer last month, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said yesterday during a regular press conference in Zape.According to Choi, the victim, whose details were not revealed, is a man from the mainland who engaged in unlicensed money exchange activities in local casinos. The suspect is a 30-year-old man, surnamed Tan, who told the police that he works as a driver.On January 20 in the

February 27, 2018 | BY admin

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