The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, stressed that the Government paid great attention to the issues relating to people’s livelihoods, and would not cut spending – even at a time of austerity in relation to the Government budget – for projects relating to people’s well-being.

At a Friday (11 August) question-and-answer session at the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho also shared updated details regarding the public housing scheme. As of 7 August, 4,000 family-based applications had been accepted, following completion of reviews regarding the qualification of the applicants, an assessment and a scoring process. Of those approved, 1,600 families had already been allocated an apartment. The average waiting time was approximately one year.

The five public housing projects that were under construction should meet the needs of all those eligible to apply, said Mr Ho.

The Government had a plan to initiate within this year the new application round under the Home-Ownership Scheme, said Mr Ho. In addition, there would be another five projects in 2024 under the Home-Ownership Scheme, involving more than 5,000 units. The proportion of unit types to be made available in this year’s application round was not yet determined. The Government would assess that matter once the application process started.

Concerning the teaching of Portuguese language, the Chief Executive said that was a mission directed by the country and a unique strengthen of Macao. Currently, there were 77 elementary schools in Macao, 36 of which had offered Portuguese courses. It was hoped that the number would be increased to 40 in the future, so that students could start learning Portuguese language from an early age.

During his visit to Portugal in April, Mr Ho had met with the President of the Portuguese Republic, and engaged in exchanges regarding the teaching of Portuguese language in Macao. The Portuguese President said Portugal would strengthen its support in that area, regarding supply of teachers. Mr Ho also said that Macao students studying in universities in Portugal were going on to be involved in a variety of professional fields. Macao therefore had accumulated Portuguese-speaking professionals in various fields, and this would support the sustainable development of Macao.

Mr Ho also talked in Friday’s Legislative Assembly session about the “Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles” policy. New Urban Area A was still under construction, and the road network was not yet fully developed. Under such circumstances, the current daily quota of 2,000 eligible Macao-registered vehicles being able to apply to drive to the mainland was the “ceiling” in terms of pressure on the road network.

The “Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles” policy was one element, and the “Macao single-plate vehicle” policy was a second. The first allowed Macao vehicles to be driven within the entirety of Guangdong Province. The second enabled Macao vehicles to be driven within Henqgin island. The initiative was designed for the commuting convenience of those either living in Macao and working in Hengqin, or living in Hengqin and working in Macao. Had the “Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles” policy allowed entry via Hengqin for vehicles en route to Zhuhai, it might have caused traffic chaos in Hengqin, said Mr Ho.

In relation to other topics, Mr Ho said Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao would jointly host the 15th National Games. Macao would organise no more than 10 events. The Macao Government was making a preliminary review of event venues according to this plan. The main objective was to make good use of the existing public facilities, and properly update equipment. There would not be new venues, in order to control expenses. Mr Ho said additionally that the integrated tourism and leisure resorts also had venues that might be suitable, and he hoped that some events could take place at such sites.

Regarding work concerning cross-departmental effort, Mr Ho said the Government had seen such collaboration strengthen in the past three to four years. An example of progress achieved from such effort, was that the “Macao One Account” platform had provided more than 180 services so far, and more than 500,000 people had registered for an account.

Regarding pay rises for the civil service, the Chief Executive noted the advisory council on salaries had reviewed the issue two months ago. He also noted that civil servants had not had a pay rise for three years. Nonetheless the issue had to be subject to discussions, and a balance had to be struck in terms of the interests of the community as a whole.