Coordinator of the Working Group on the Development of a Water Conservation Society as well as Director of the Maritime Administration of Macau SAR, Susana Wong announced in a press conference this morning that the SAR government would launch relieving measures to help the community, especially the disadvantaged groups, to tackle the salinity problem. At the same time, the “Household Water Conservation Rebate Program” will be launched. According to Susana Wong, when the salinity level of potable water reaches moderate (yellow, over salinity index 250) for over 5 days, the relieving measures will be launched through the Social Welfare Bureau. The measures include providing subsidies to the regular beneficiaries, three kinds of disadvantaged households and 134 subsidized social service facilities of the bureau. Also, the government will distribute bottled water to people benefited from the Short-term Food Assistance Program. All of the measures are expected to benefit at least 35,000 people and the total subsidized amount will be around 1,850,000 patacas every month. The Working Group will launch “Household Water Conservation Rebate Program” today, in order to encourage people to reduce water consumption and combat salinity together. Households who are able to reduce water consumption by 10% or more, from early November this year to late February next year, compared to that of the same period last year, will be given a water fee rebate. The more the water reduction, the higher the rebate will be. The maximum rebate is up to 50 patacas for each household. During the salt tide, municipal water use will be reduced, such as the amount of water used for watering plants and the frequency of hosing down streets.
