The chairman of the Municipal Affairs Bureau’s administration committee, José Maria da Fonseca Tavares, will be retiring at the end of this year, after eight years in the post and four decades as a civil servant.
During the bureau’s final public session for the year, which was held this morning in the grand hall of the Leal Senado Building, Tavares told local media that he had submitted his formal application for retirement back in August.
According to a government gazette published yesterday, Chao Wai Ieng, the outgoing chief of the Identification Services Bureau, will be succeeding Tavares, with the appointment due to take effect on 1 January.
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As the head of the Municipal Affairs Bureau – often called the IAM after its Portuguese initials – Tavares presided over the city’s sanitation, food and water quality, as well as its markets.
Prior to heading the bureau in 2016, he worked for decades at the Macao Sports Development Board and its successor, the Sports Bureau.
At this morning’s meeting, Tavares also addressed the ongoing controversy over defective street signs, saying that the bureau would be transferring the manager who had been in charge of the project.
