Two top officials will take the helm at two newly renamed government bureaus tomorrow.
Lai Weng Leong, who is currently a deputy director of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), will become the bureau’s director, when it will be restructured and renamed Lands and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU).
Lam Wai Hou, who is currently the director of the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI), will be reappointed over as the director of the entity which will be upgraded to bureau-level and renamed Public Works Bureau (DSOP).
The GDI was set up in 2000 as a “project team” tasked with planning and supervising large-scale infrastructure projects, such as land reclamation, bridges, flyovers, tunnels, checkpoints, ferry terminals, public housing, health facilities, and various other government buildings.
Since the then Transport Infrastructure Office (GIT) was abolished in 2019, the government’s task of supervising the construction of Light Rail Transit projects has also been carried out by the Infrastructure Development Office.
In addition to its current functions of urban planning, land management, and the supervision of private projects, the DSSOPT is currently also tasked with planning and supervising certain public projects, normally smaller-scale ones, such as footbridges, roads, sewerage systems, and the renovation of government buildings.
The bureau was set up in the early 1990s, when Macao was still under Portuguese administration.
The government said last week that after the current GDI has been upgraded to a bureau, it will be tasked with planning and supervising all government projects.
The government said last week that after the current DSSOPT has been restructured, it will no longer be responsible for any public sector projects, while it will keep all its other functions, namely urban planning, land management, and the supervision of private sector projects. In addition, the new bureau will have an additional unit tasked with supervising the city’s electrical and mechanical projects and facilities.
The government also said last week that it had decided to carry out the restructuring with the aim of making the government’s division of labour more reasonable.
The two restructured public entities will be called Lands and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) and Public Works Bureau (DSOP) based on their respective Portuguese names, Direcção dos Serviços de Solos e Construção Urbana, and Direcção dos Serviços de Obras Públicas. If literally translated from their respective Chinese names, they will be called Lands and Public Works Bureau, and Public Infrastructure Bureau.
In the restructuring of the two public entities, the current DSSOPT Public Buildings Department and Infrastructures Department will move to the new Public Works Bureau. In addition to the two departments, the new Public Works Bureau will also have a Research and Design Department. Consequently, the new bureau will have three departments.
The new Lands and Urban Construction Bureau will have six departments, a change from the seven departments of the current Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau.
The current DSSOPT Urban Planning Department, Land Management Department, Urbanisation Department, Legal Department, and Administration Department will be kept in the new Lands and Urban Construction Bureau. In addition, the restructured bureau will have a new Electrical and Mechanical Facilities Department, The Macau Post Daily reported.
