Macao’s public departments have been diligently implementing the measures included in the Government’s plans regarding disaster prevention and mitigation.

Public safety and security forces have recently procured new professional emergency rescue equipment, and have been providing additional training to its personnel, in order to optimise the Government’s overall capabilities to respond to and recover from civil emergencies.

The remarks were made today by the Commissioner-General of the Unitary Police Service, Mr Ma Io Kun, during a media event to showcase approximately 70 pieces of new equipment deployed respectively to the Macao Customs Service, the Fire Services Bureau and the Public Security Police Force.

Each department would in future procure additional specialised equipment, namely to be used in search and rescue missions and to quickly restore the city’s critical infrastructure in case of a disaster, added Mr Ma, who also heads the city’s emergency response mechanism. The Government has set a budget of approximately 70 million patacas for the acquisition of such equipment.

Following Typhoon Hato in August 2017, the Government has been stepping up its efforts to advance Macao’s ability either to prevent disasters if possible, or to minimise the impact of any that might occur. Public safety and security forces have prepared short-, medium-, and long-term response plans to typhoons and other civil emergencies, said Mr Ma.

Regarding training of additional rescue personnel, Mr Ma stated the Fire Services Bureau had plans to organise more training courses on high angle rescue techniques. The Customs Service had recruited five additional divers this year, expanding the size of its diver team from 16 to 21 divers.

New emergency rescue equipment showcased this morning included: equipment for rescue missions inside flooded car parks such as unmanned ships and underwater robots; full-face snorkel masks equipped with walkie talkie radios; patrol launches fitted with night vision equipment; emergency power generators; large electric cutters; break-in tools; tree-pruning machines; electric saws; and large-scale water pumps.