Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak has said that the government is proposing that culprits should face a heavier penalty than normal if they spread rumours during typhoons and other disasters.
Wong made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Friday after overseeing the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng, at the Secretariat for Security (GSS) in the S. Francisco Barracks.
Wong said he expected to request approval from Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On this week for the legislative process of the city’s civil protection framework bill to get off the ground. He said the bill was among the government’s medium-term measures to enhance the city’s capabilities to respond to typhoons and other disasters, in the wake of deadly Super Typhoon Hato which pummelled Macau in August last year.
The government has said it plans to set up a new entity tentatively called the Civil Protection and Contingency Coordination Bureau, with the aim of enabling better coordination and mobilisation of disaster relief resources.
Wong also said on Friday that the proposed civil protection framework bill would also stipulate the setting-up of the proposed bureau.
Wong stressed that spreading rumours during typhoons and other disasters already constitutes a criminal offence, adding that the government was, however, proposing in the civil protection framework bill that the penalty be increased by a third if the offender spreads rumours during typhoons and other disasters.
