Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said that Macao would need housing projects for Macao’s sandwich class. Ho said that young people or those who do not live with senior citizens have only a small chance of buying a subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) flat.
Ho said that’s why the government is currently carrying out a public consultation asking residents how the sandwich class should be defined and whether sandwich class housing is needed in the city.
Ho said that only after civil society agrees that there is a need for sandwich class housing projects would the government announce where it plans to build tem.
Ho also said that Macao is “frequently” facing cybersecurity issues as “many” hackers from foreign countries have been attempting to attack local institutions’ networks, including universities. Ho pledged that the local government will continue protecting local security and national security.
Cross-departmental communication failure
Ho was also asked about the Health Bureau’s recent decision to suspend a new measure which would have required players in all local sports events to be tested for COVID-19 every seven days after considering the difficulties the relevant government entities – the Sports Bureau (ID) and the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) – would have faced in implementing the measure.
Ho admitted that it was the example of a failure in the government’s cross-departmental communication. Ho said that the Health Bureau, which has been tackling the COVID-19 risk for a long time, quickly rectified the issue, instead of insisting on pushing ahead with the new measure, in coordination with Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U.
Ho said that “if you want someone to be accountable, that’s my problem” as he heads the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
“Saints sometimes also commit mistakes, like everyone,” Ho said.
Ho urged residents to show understanding for the Health Bureau which has been working very hard to fight the novel coronavirus since early this year.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macao News)
Photo by Xinhua News Agency
