Election amendment bill elicits different views

Lawmakers yesterday raised starkly divergent opinions on the government’s proposed changes to the Legislative Assembly Election Law yesterday. Some lawmakers slammed the bill for failing to increase the number of directly-elected seats and change the method of the indirect legislative election. Senior officials including Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan presided over a meeting at the Legislative Assembly to collect lawmakers’ opinions about the

May 19, 2016 | BY admin

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‘No urgent need’ to make indirect elections more competitive: govt

Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) Director Kou Peng Kuan said yesterday that as the Legislative Assembly Election Law’s articles on the legislature’s indirect election were amended in 2012, there was “no urgent need” to make further changes right now. Kou made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the government’s previous announcement that it planned to improve the competitiveness of the legislature’s indirect election.  Senior

May 19, 2016 | BY admin

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Group calls for official measures to lower prices

Local activist group People Power urged Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan and Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac yesterday to come up with measures to lower consumer prices, especially the retail price of pork, before September 1, adding that the group would stage a protest if the two officials fail to do that.Cheong Weng Fat, the vice-chairman of the group, made the appeal during a press conference held at the office of grassroots lawmakers Au Kam

May 19, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt to axe Human Resources Office next week

The Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) will set up a Non-resident Workers Employment Department on May 28 to take over the functions of the Human Resources Office (GRH), which will be axed the same day.The Executive Council (ExCo) has finished discussing the draft of a by-law regarding the bureau’s new organisational structure, the advisory body’s spokesman Leong Heng Teng told reporters during a press conference at Government Headquarters yesterday.The bureau currently has 421 staff members

May 19, 2016 | BY admin

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20 Pearl Horizon petitioners denied entry to HK: reports

Of around 40 pre-sale buyers of Pearl Horizon flats who planned to petition visiting National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Chairman Zhang Dejiang in Hong Kong yesterday, 20 were denied entry to the city by the HK Immigration Department (ImmD), without stating any reason for the decision, a female buyer surnamed Chan told government broadcaster TDM yesterday. Yesterday morning, the remaining 20 or so buyers were directed to a designated demonstration area near the Hong Kong

May 19, 2016 | BY admin

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Disease centre’s eco-impact report accepted: Tam

The Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) has accepted a consultancy’s environmental impact assessment report for the Health Bureau’s (SSM) planned infectious disease centre, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng told lawmakers yesterday, insisting that the “high-standard” facility would be “absolutely safe”.He made the announcement during a plenary debate on whether the centre should be built next to the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre (CHCSJ)

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Police arrest 2 ‘bored’ teens for arson

The police have arrested two 15-year-old boys for an arson attack in a residential building in Iao Hon on Monday, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said during a regular press briefing yesterday.The spokesperson said the case was passed to the police by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) after firefighters were called to the scene at around 10 p.m. on Monday and found the circumstances to be suspicious as there wasn’t anything that could have started a fire nearby.The spokesperson said that

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Burglaries rise 18 pct in first 4 months: PJ chief

Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Chau Wai Kuong said yesterday that the city recorded an 18 percent increase in burglaries in the first four months of the year, but insisted that the situation was still manageable.Chau made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting with local property management associations at the PJ headquarters. The meeting was open to the media.According to Chau, the number of burglary cases recorded in the first four months of this year was 26, compared with 22 cases in the

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Residential property prices fall 4.2 pct in Q1

The average price of residential units decreased by 4.2 percent quarter-to-quarter to 72,955 patacas per square metre of usable area in the first quarter, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday. The average price of pre-sale residential units dropped by 8.9 percent to 94,165 patacas per square metre. The average price of existing residential units fell by 1.7 percent quarter-to-quarter to 69,825 patacas per square metre. Please read the full article in our

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Taipei prosecutor charges Macau student for killing cat

The Taipei District Public Prosecutors Office has charged a male student from Macau, who allegedly killed a stray cat in Taipei’s Da’an district in December last year, for violating Taiwan’s Animal Protection Act, according to a report by the semi-official Central News Agency (CNA) yesterday.According to the news report, the office completed its investigation into the case yesterday. The chemical engineering major at the National Taiwan University (NTU), surnamed Chan, was taken by

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Macau is a good gateway to China: Russian airline

Macau is a good gateway to China for Russian airlines, Dmitriy Arkhipov, a vice-president of Royal Flight, a Russian charter airline based in Abakan, said yesterday. Abakan, which has some 173,000 inhabitants, is the capital city of the Russian Federation’s Republic of Khakassia in the southwestern part of Siberia near Mongolia. Speaking to The Macau Post Daily on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony for the airline’s Macau-Moscow route at the local airport, Arkhipov said that

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Gaming industry says proxy betting ban’s impact ‘minimal’

Gaming and junket operators said yesterday that the government’s recent ban on phone or proxy betting had only had a minor impact on gaming revenue but urged the government to let tourists know about it so as to prevent conflicts at the gaming tables.The comments were made on the sidelines of the three-day G2E Asia gaming expo that kicked off at the Venetian yesterday. The expo, which has drawn 180 exhibitors, will wrap up tomorrow.SJM Executive Director Angela Leong On Kei told reporters the

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Expo shows off robot croupiers as hopes of recovery rise

Robot roulette dealers, animated playing cards and a gaming table that shakes its own dice were on show at the Venetian in Cotai yesterday as experts forecast a two-year casino revenue downturn could be coming to an end.The atmosphere was buoyant as around 200 exhibitors showcased their products at the Global Gaming Expo Asia (G2E Asia) – from miniature horse-racing tables to colourful craps machines sporting giant golden dragon sculptures.Casino revenues in Macau continued to fall in April,

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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Fire hydrants to be installed in landfill: eco-chief

The Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) will install fire hydrants in a landfill in Taipa soon to reduce the risk of fires spreading quickly, DSPA Director Raymond Tam Vai Man said yesterday.Tam made the remarks on the sidelines of yesterday’s opening ceremony of an exhibition held at the Macau Communications Museum. Tam was one of the guests at the ceremony.The landfill close to the airport has had a number of fires recently. The latest one occurred on Saturday.Environmental Protection

May 18, 2016 | BY admin

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