Lawmaker slams culture bureau over heritage protection

Lawmaker-cum-businessman Chan Meng Kam has slammed the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) for its protection work on the city’s cultural heritage sites, urging the bureau to improve its management and supervision of the sites.The lawmaker, widely seen as the de facto leader of the city’s sizeable Fujianese community, made the remarks in a written interpellation submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday. A copy of the interpellation was sent to the media.Chan, a member of the Executive

June 30, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt to repossess idle land in Nam Van: Rosario

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario reaffirmed yesterday his long-held stance that in line with the Land Law the government will repossess any idle plots of land after their provisional concessions have expired, when asked by reporters about 14 idle plots of land in Nam Van’s Zones C and D. The 25-year-provisional concessions of the plots are slated to expire on July 30. Also asked by reporters about the undeveloped plots yesterday, Pansy Ho Chiu King,

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt to spend 100 million on disability subsidy

The government will hand out some 100 million patacas in subsidies to disabled residents this year, Choi Sio Un, who heads the Social Solidarity Department of the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), said yesterday.Choi also said the committee agreed that the amounts of the annual subsidy will be increased to 8,000 patacas for the “normal” category and 16,000 patacas for the “special” category this year, from 7,500 patacas and 15,000 patacas respectively last year. The 6.7 percent increase was

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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IPM to launch Portuguese teacher training courses

Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM) President Lei Heong Iok said yesterday the tertiary education institution would launch Portuguese-language teacher training courses soon.Lei made the announcement on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony for IPM students of the academic year 2015-2016 on the institute’s campus in Zape. Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On presided over the ceremony. Lei said that after the launch of a new bachelor’s programme in International Chinese Language

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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Locals are generally tolerant of disabled people: study

A study commissioned by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) found that local residents generally have tolerant attitudes towards disabled people, but there were still noticeable obstacles related to the integration of disabled people and others, the bureau’s Social Solidarity Department Chief Choi Sio Un said yesterday.Choi made the remarks during a press briefing about a meeting of the Rehabilitation Affairs Committee which was held yesterday at the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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Pansy Ho says MGM Cotai project going smoothly

The construction of MGM China’s casino-hotel resort in Cotai is going smoothly, Pansy Ho Chiu King, co-chairperson and executive director of the gaming company, said yesterday, adding she believed it will open in the first quarter of next year.  The US-based brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein said last week there was a possibility that the opening of the resort “may trickle into the second quarter” of 2017, according to media reports. Ho was asked by a reporter about the reports on

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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Some CTM concession articles are ‘unfair’: lawmaker

Lawmaker-cum-businessman Chan Meng Kam said yesterday that the legislature’s Public Administration Affairs Monitoring Committee found several articles in CTM’s concession agreement with the government to be “unfair” and “unjustifiable”.According to Chan, the government would, for example, have to pay about three billion patacas if it chose to end the agreement with CTM due to public interest.The committee met government officials in the legislative chamber yesterday to discuss the

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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Police nab mainland pimp, 2 sex workers

The Public Security Police (PSP) announced yesterday the arrest of a mainland man on suspicion of pimping and using social media to find clients for two sex workers.A PSP spokesperson announced the case during a regular press briefing.According to the spokesperson, PSP officers received a tip-off on Sunday that a mainlander was using social media to find clients for prostitutes. After investigating, PSP officers arrested the suspect and two women from the mainland in a hotel room later that

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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Public libraries launch webpage for elderly

Internet use is becoming more popular among senior citizens so the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has launched a special version of its library webpage for the elderly.The bureau said in a statement yesterday that the version was launched last Wednesday.According to the statement, the version has an interface and design that are easy for senior citizens to use and read. The font is bigger, and there is a function that allows users to magnify what they are reading.Yesterday’s image shows the

June 29, 2016 | BY admin

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New continuing education subsidy to last 3 years again: govt

The new phase of the government’s continuing education subsidy scheme will run for three years, unchanged from the two previous phases, Kong Ngai, who heads the Continuing Education Division of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ), said yesterday.Kong also said that for the third-phase subsidy scheme, the policy for unused subsidies will be unchanged, meaning it cannot be transferred to the next phase.Kong made the remarks during a press conference about a regular meeting of the

June 28, 2016 | BY admin

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Wynn Palace to open on Aug 22

Wynn Macau will open its new integrated resort, Wynn Palace, in Cotai on August 22, the US gaming company said in a statement yesterday. The 32 billion patacas property features 1,706 rooms, restaurants, cable car rides around the resort, a water fountain show and a luxury shopping centre as well as floral and art sculptures. According to the statement, the company founded and headed by American casino mogul Steve Wynn expects the new resort to attract more international tourists to

June 28, 2016 | BY admin

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Galaxy bets on slot machines to woo mass market

Galaxy is betting on new slot machine games to woo the mass market to boost business during the summer.Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) Corporate Office’s International Premium & Mass Market Development Director Raymond Yap Yin Min, who attended the launch of a new slot machine game at Galaxy Macau in Cotai yesterday, told reporters the group saw potential in the slot machine segment of the casino revenue as a way to push business while the economy is still not doing so well.“Although

June 28, 2016 | BY admin

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Less than half of 300 HOS applicants qualify: govt

The Housing Bureau’s (IH) Housing Allocation Division Chief Michael Mio Chan Seng said yesterday that of the first batch of 300 homeownership scheme (HOS) applicants, less than half qualified for the programme. The allocation process began at the bureau yesterday, according to which qualified applicants can choose from a total of 1,900 flats in eight HOS buildings, which include 845 single-bedroom flats, 888 two-bedroom flats and 158 three-bedroom flats.The government reopened the

June 28, 2016 | BY admin

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Coastal waters pollution seriously affects residents: lawmaker

The “increasingly deteriorating pollution” of the Macau peninsula’s coastal waters has been seriously affecting the daily lives of residents, legislator Ho Ion Sang said yesterday. Ho, a vice-president of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations, raised the concern in a written interpellation submitted to the government. The lawmaker sent copies of the interpellation to the media yesterday. His association is commonly known as Kai Fong. He quoted the official Report

June 28, 2016 | BY admin

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