All 100 special taxis ready for use by end-May: chief

Macau Radio Taxi Corporation Chairman Cheong Chi Man said yesterday he expected the remaining 50 special radio taxis to be ready for use by the end of May, after the initial 50 taxis come into service in early April.Cheong added that his company will announce when the remaining 50 taxis hit the roads after reviewing its operation over the two months.Cheong made the remarks after his company showed the media how the rear seats in five of the taxis can be folded back to allow two wheelchair users

February 28, 2017 | BY admin

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Retail sales drop 6.6 pct last year

Macau’s retail sales last year fell 6.6 percent year on year to 57.51 billion patacas, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday.Last year’s retail sales corresponded to about a quarter of the city’s gross gaming revenue of 224.1 billion patacas during the same period.Retail sales of watches and jewellery reached 11.76 billion patacas, accounting for 20.5 percent of total retail sales last year.PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN OUR PRINT EDITION.

February 28, 2017 | BY admin

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Retail sales drop 6.6 pct last year

Macau’s retail sales last year fell 6.6 percent year on year to 57.51 billion patacas, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday.Last year’s retail sales corresponded to about a quarter of the city’s gross gaming revenue of 224.1 billion patacas during the same period.Retail sales of watches and jewellery reached 11.76 billion patacas, accounting for 20.5 percent of total retail sales last year. PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN OUR PRINT EDITION.

February 28, 2017 | BY admin

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Jobless rate rises to 2 pct

Macau’s estimated unemployment rate rose to 2.0 percent in the three-month survey period to the end of January, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) said yesterday.A DSEC statement said that following the completion of a number of construction projects before the Chinese New Year, unemployment in the construction sector increased, bringing the general unemployment rate for the three-month period up slightly by 0.1 percentage point from the previous period (October-December 2016) to 2.0

February 28, 2017 | BY admin

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Mainlander nabbed for 3 car break-ins

A mainland man was arrested on Saturday for breaking into three cars, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said yesterday.According to the spokesperson, the suspect, surnamed Zhang, is a 41-year-old security guard.The spokesperson said the three owners of the vehicles reported on separate occasions last year that their car windows had been smashed and property removed from the interiors. One of the cars was parked in Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen on February 15 last year while the other two were

February 28, 2017 | BY admin

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Scholar urges govt not to raze Coloane shipyards

The government should change its mind about demolishing 11 of about 14 dilapidated shipyards in Coloane’s Lai Chi Vun Village and explain why it did not redevelop the area in line with previous research into the site, Agnes Lam Iok Fong, assistant dean of the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Social Sciences, said yesterday.Lam made the remarks after reporters had asked for her comments on the issue.The research was conducted by the government in 2012, which proposed the redevelopment

February 28, 2017 | BY admin

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Forum urges Macau to be ready for int’l trends

A forum, hosted yesterday by the Macau Civic Power (ECM) group, discussed how China’s relations with other countries, especially the United States, might affect Macau’s economy, and urged the city’s residents to be prepared for possible economic changes.The group hosts monthly roundtable discussions on a variety of topics. Yesterday’s open-air discussion, which took place at the Art Garden in Nape, was led by three panellists and a moderator.Panellist Davis Fong Ka Chio, who heads the

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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NMA quitter vows to monitor elections

New Macau Association (NMA) Vice-President Jason Chao Teng Hei, who announced on Thursday that he will the group quit the group at the end of March, says he will set up a new platform in April to monitor and “promote the fairness” of the upcoming legislative elections.The direct and indirect legislative elections, which are held every four years, are slated to take place in September. Chao failed in his bid for a seat in the legislature four years ago.Chao, 31, made the remarks on the

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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6 fall ill after dining at MGM eatery

Six people fell ill with suspected gastroenteritis after dining at MGM Macau’s Rossio buffet restaurant on February 16, a statement from the Health Bureau (SSM) said on Friday.The statement said that after 13 staff members of an unnamed organisation dined at the restaurant on February 16 in the evening, six had upset stomachs. The following morning they suffered from vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and fever. One of them sought medical assistance but did not show severe signs of illness

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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Forum urges govt to preserve old shipyards

Guest speakers and members of the audience at yesterday’s Macau Forum urged the government to preserve Coloane’s Lai Chi Vun Village by not demolishing its ramshackle shipyards.However, fellow guest speaker Lao Wai Chun, who heads the Navigation Surveillance Division of the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA), insisted that the former shipyards need to be demolished as they are on the brink of collapse, causing a potential safety hazard.The weekly open-air debate is hosted by government-owned

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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Group calls for financial sector development

The Macau Economics Association yesterday urged the government to promote the development of financial businesses with “special features” to diversify the local economy.The group held a press conference yesterday to brief the media about its newly-published book that suggests polices that will develop financial businesses with “special features” in the city.The press conference, co-hosted by the association’s president Joey Lao Chi Ngai and members Lao Heng Meng and Sou Chan Fai, was

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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Lawmaker slams provident fund bill for not protecting staff

The initial version of the government-proposed non-mandatory central provident fund system cannot protect workers, especially those working in the construction industry, lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I said yesterday.Lawmaker Kwan Tsui Hang told reporters on Friday after a meeting of the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee with government officials that the government had decided not to amend the bill.According to the initial version – the draft – of the bill, an employee will get

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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3 maids nabbed for operating fake base stations

Three female Vietnamese domestic helpers were caught on Wednesday for operating fake base stations, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said yesterday during a special briefing.A fake base station is telecom equipment which sends out a signal, disconnecting mobile phone users in an area from their base stations and who then receive messages from the fake one instead.According to the spokesperson, the first suspect, surnamed Bui, is 37 years old while the second suspect, surnamed Le, is aged

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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NMA vice-president to quit group

Jason Chao Teng Hei, the vice-president of the grassroots New Macau Association (NMA), said in a statement on his Facebook page last night that he had decided to resign and withdraw his membership from the grassroots groups. According to the statement, Chao says that when he was serving as the president of the association, he endeavoured to keep the direction of the group in line with international standards and practices. “From time to time, I came across the criticism of being too

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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