Firecracker plant land swap is invalid: govt

Upon yesterday’s release of a hard-hitting Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) report on a land swap deal involving the former Iec Long Firecracker Factory site in Taipa, the government said it had determined that the agreement is invalid and defective, adding that the anti-graft body would launch a criminal investigation into the case if any indication of corruption is found. Almost one year after Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario passed the case to the graft

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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Man with ‘unknown disease’ flashes women in park: police

The Public Security Police (PSP) arrested on Tuesday a man suffering from an “unknown disease” on suspicion of exposing himself to two women in Flora Garden, a PSP spokesperson said yesterday.The spokesperson announced the case during a regular press briefing at PJ headquarter in Zape.According to the spokesperson, the suspect is a local unemployed man in his thirties, surnamed Wong.Please read the full article in our print edition.

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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Filipino swindles compatriots out of 200,000 patacas

Judiciary Police (PJ) officers arrested a local man on Friday for allegedly cheating 20 Filipinos out of a total of 200,000 patacas via a job scam, a PJ spokesperson said yesterday.The spokesperson announced the case during a regular press briefing. The 30-year-old suspect surnamed Viovicinte is a Philippine national, who told police that he works in the information technology (IT) sector.The spokesperson said five victims called the police last week, claiming that they had been cheated out of

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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6 illegal workers nabbed in Cotai

The Public Security Police (PSP) announced in a statement yesterday the arrests of six male illegal workers – three from Southeast Asia, two from the mainland and one from Hong Kong– who were working illegally on a construction site in Cotai.The statement did not name the site.According to the statement, PSP officers and staff members of the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) swooped on the site at about 9 a.m., after receiving a tip-off that the site was employing “black labour”.This handout

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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Man cheats pawnshop out of HK$600,000: police

The police have arrested a man for allegedly tricking a pawnshop employee into giving him HK$600,000 from the shop’s safe, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said yesterday.The suspect used to work for the pawnshop in Zape and was fired two months before the incident for being lazy, according to the spokesperson.Speaking during a special press briefing, the spokesperson said the case happened in September 2012, when the suspect had an accomplice call the pawnshop in the early hours of the

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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Union urges govt to probe ‘multi-function rooms’ for smokers

Members of the New Macau Gaming Workers’ Rights Union yesterday submitted a petition, addressed to Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion, urging the bureau to investigate the alleged setting-up of “multi-function rooms” without special ventilation systems where gamblers are allegedly allowed to smoke in a local casino.Under the current rules, smoking lounges can be set up in mass market areas, while gamblers are permitted to smoke in VIP areas. A separate ventilation system is

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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Lawmaker labels calls to amend Land Law ‘ridiculous’

Outspoken lawmaker Jose Pereira Coutinho yesterday described the current calls to amend or “interpret” the Land Law as “ridiculous”, adding that the law had curbed land lease holders from “easily” transferring their plots to others or leave their land undeveloped within the legal development period.Coutinho also said that he and fellow lawmaker Leong Veng Chai will not support any bill proposing to amend or interpret the law, which took effect in March 2014. Coutinho, who heads

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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Local sculptors hold summer exhibition

The Macau Sculpture Association is holding a summer-themed exhibition of metal sculptures at 10 Fantasia.The “Summer x Metal Sculpture Exhibition” comprises about half a dozen exhibits from members of the association on display at the gallery in Calçada da Igreja de S. Lazaro.According to a statement by the gallery, the association specialises in holding sculpture exhibitions.Please read the full article in our print edition.

July 14, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt asks Wynn Palace how many tables it wants

Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said yesterday that while the government had received a document from Wynn Resorts Macau about gaming tables for Wynn Palace in Cotai, the US gaming company had not specified the number of gaming tables and slot machines it was applying for.Leong said that therefore he had told the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ) to contact the company for information specifying “actually how many gaming tables and slot machines it is

July 13, 2016 | BY admin

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Survey finds 21 pct respondents used ‘Uber service’

A survey conducted by local think tank Collective Wisdom Policy Centre shows that 21.7 percent of 1,012 respondents said that they had used the –formally illegal – Uber service, and about 50 percent of the respondents who used the service said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with it. Ho Weng Hong and Chan Ka Leong, both key members of the group affiliated to the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (commonly known as Kai Fong), presided over a press

July 13, 2016 | BY admin

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Lawmaker labels criticism of Land Law ‘unfair’

Grassroots lawmaker Kwan Tsui Hang said yesterday the current criticism of the Land Law was unfair and unacceptable.Kwan also said that the law, which took effect in March 2014, had met civil society’s call for transparency and limits on administrative discretion when dealing with land concessions, reasonable land premiums and better management of the city’s scarce land resources.Kwan also said that during the whole process of reviewing and debating the articles of the Land Law in 2013 no

July 13, 2016 | BY admin

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Mainlander sexually assaults mentally disabled girl: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a 22-year-old mainland man on suspicion of sexually assaulting a local girl with a mild intellectual disability on Monday, a PJ spokesperson said yesterday.The spokesperson announced the case during a regular press briefing at the PJ headquarters in Zape.According to the spokesperson, the unemployed suspect, surnamed Huang, met the victim, who is also aged 22, on Sunday in a shop at a hotel-casino resort in Cotai. The spokesperson said Huang had chatted with

July 13, 2016 | BY admin

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Li Gang’s remarks turn developers into ‘quails’: ex-legislator

Claiming that the Land Law was not in line with “the spirit of the Basic Law” and thus needed to be amended or further interpreted, developer-cum-former lawmaker Ung Choi Kun said yesterday that Central People’s Government Liaison Office Director Li Gang’s remarks on the Land Law last year had turned many of his fellow developers into “quails”. According to recent media reports, Li is slated to be replaced by Wang Zhimin, currently a deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau

July 13, 2016 | BY admin

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Air Macau Bangkok flight returns to base due to ‘strange smell’

A flight from Macau to Bangkok had turn around on Monday night after a “strange smell” was detected in the cabin yesterday.According to a report by government-owned broadcaster TDM yesterday morning, the flight took off at 10:15 p.m. on Monday. After flying for about 20 minutes, the pilot smelt something strange and decided to return to the local airport.The report said none of the passengers became unwell due to the incident, adding that the airline arranged for another flight to Bangkok

July 13, 2016 | BY admin

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