University of Macau (UM) Professor Liu Bolong said yesterday that there are too many government bureaus in Macau and that some with similar functions should be merged.
He also said that the Secretariat for Administration and Justice should be split into two secretariats, one for public administration and the other for legal affairs.
Liu made the comments Wednesday after attending the opening ceremony of the “2014 Cross-Strait Academic Conference on Enhancement of Public Governance”, on the university’s new Hengqin Island campus.
Academics from Macau, Taiwan and the mainland attended the one-day conference, which was co-organised by the UM, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) and the Macau Inter-regional Public Administration Studies Association.
According to Liu, there are 35 government bureaus in Macau, while there are just 15 in Hong Kong. He said in the mainland the number of bureau-level central government entities was 29.
Liu said that the 35 government bureaus did not even include some government entities equivalent to bureau level.
Liu, who teaches public administration at UM, said the large number of bureaus showed that the structure of the local government is too large, adding that it undermined the efficiency.
Liu said some bureaus with similar functions should merge. He said the mergers could make public administration more efficient, which in turn could serve the public better.
Liu also said there were too many different kinds of government funding. He said that to his knowledge there were 18. He said that those of a similar nature should be merged.
When asked which particular bureaus should be merged, Liu said, “I think the government is thinking about it”.
Liu also said that on average the ratio of civil servants to the population in Macau is higher than in Hong Kong and Singapore. He said the rapid social development over the last decade had caused the government to establish new government entities to tackle changing matters in society so that the number of civil servants increased also.
Liu said that the number of civil servants should not significantly increase further, adding that the government could transfer civil servants across to where they are needed most.
Currently there are about 30,000 government employees in Macau.
Liu said that the merging of bureaus and improved public administration efficiency could help tackle heated social issues that have arisen over the last decade, such as housing and traffic.
Liu urged the government to tackle various social issues, namely alleviating high inflation and reforming the medical and education systems.(macaunews/macaupost)
China’s State Council on Wednesday appointed Chui Sai On as the fourth-term chief executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR).
Chui, 57, was elected the fourth-term chief executive-designate of the Macau SAR on Aug. 31 as the sole candidate in the election.
Born in Macau in 1957, Chui holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Health from California State University, and a master’s degree and PhD of Public Health from the University of Oklahoma. He has served as the third-term chief executive of the Macau SAR since 2009.
His next five-year tenure will start from Dec. 20, 2014, it was decided at a State Council meeting presided over by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
Li told the meeting that the August election was completely in line with the Basic Law of the Macau SAR and all other relevant laws, and reflected “an open and just principle.”
The premier said Chui’s win by a clear majority showed he was widely supported by Macau people.
He said Chui — with the support of the central government — had led the Macao SAR to maintain high economic growth and low unemployment over the past five years.
His reelection would thus be conducive to Macau’s long-term prosperity, stability and development, according to Li.
Noting that this year marks the 15th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland, Li said the “one country, two systems” policy has been a great success.
He said that central authorities will continue to implement the Basic Law and the principle of one country, two systems, under which Macau people govern Macau and the SAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy, and that they will back sustained prosperity and stability in the region.
The premier said he was confident that Chui could lead the SAR government and people to create a better future during his new tenure.
Wednesday’s approval by the State Council is the final step in appointing Chui as chief executive.
ncumbent Chief Executive Chui won 380 votes from the 396 Election Committee members who attended the Aug. 31 voting.
Chui said at a press conference after the election that winning the election is the start to embrace new challenges for Macau as well as to implement his election declaration. He pledged to fully devote himself to implementing the principle of one country, two systems, while improving people’s livelihoods in Macau.(macaunews /xinhua)
