Government strengthens its fight against corruption

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, today reaffirmed that the MSAR Government is determined to strengthen its anti corruption efforts. Speaking at a meeting with representatives from local press associations, Mr Ho said that after the Ao Man Long’s incident, the Government was working more closely with the Commission Against Corruption in pursuit of a clean society. Ao was the former Secretary for Transport and Public Works who is detained for alleged corruption. Since judicial procedures had begun, the Government could not reveal too much information, but this had given room for rumours which affected the prestige and public image of the MSAR Government as well as that of the Chief Executive, said Mr Ho. On another issue, Mr Ho said safeguarding local workers’ right and combatting illegal labour was one of the main policies. A labour law, which would conform to the real situation of Macao and international labour legislations, would soon be submitted to the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Executive also said the government had done a lot to combat illegal labour. But due to the rapid economic development, there was a lot of construction going on and one could not be one hundred per cent certain no illegal labourers were employed. On housing and transportation, Mr Ho said the government has launched a series of policies and measures to improve the existing situation, and expected it would take five years to satisfy the needs of the society. Meanwhile, he said, enhancing transparency was one of the methods to improve policy implementation and strengthen its fight against corruption. On the amendment of Land Law and contracts for public construction, Mr Ho said transparency would be increased and managed with caution. Mr Ho said that Macao was in a transitional period of rapid development, and faced all kinds of changes and difficulties. Even so, he believed that hard-working talents could get reasonable rewards from their efforts. Mr Ho believed that successful people would emerge from this transitional period and they would become Macao’s role models in the future, who would help build a more energetic and ideal society. If Macao people could overcome the difficulties which had arisen in this transitional period, the next generation would enjoy opportunities and exciting prospects, he said.