Macao’s former weather chief has emerged victorious after battling a case of unfair dismissal that has stretched back over the past four years.
Fong Soi Kun, the former director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG), has seen the successful challenge to his dismissal by the government upheld at the Court of Final Appeal (TUI). The court dismissed the government’s appeal from a ruling of the middle court, according to the Macau Daily Times.
The weather bureau ex-director filed an early retirement application following Typhoon Hato in 2017, which claimed 10 lives. He was criticised for not acting responsibly as the cyclone, the strongest storm in half a century, bore down on the city, causing acute flooding and extensive damage. Later, then-Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, ordered Fong’s dismissal which would have affected the former weather chief’s pension which amounted to about MOP 80,000 per month.
Following an appeal to the middle court based on the government’s decision, the court ruled in favour of the SMG ex-director in 2019, deeming the penalty excessive.
The government then filed an appeal to the TUI , which upheld the ruling of the middle court. A previous investigation by the Commission Against Corruption found flaws in the SMG’s administration.
