New campus will benefit University of Macau

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today that building a new University of Macau campus on Hengqin Island in Zhuhai would boost the long-term development of the institution. Answering legislators’ questions at a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho said the plan would carry historic significance as it would provide more space for the university to expand and would benefit its future development. Since the new campus would be the first construction project jointly steered by Zhuhai and Macao, certainly the two sides would gain much experience from it, he said. He said that the university had conducted a wide range of internal consultation over the proposal of the new campus and gathered opinions among the community. He said worries and doubts over the proposal were comprehensible. The proposal had been submitted to the Central Government, and the academic freedom enjoyed by the university will continue to be endeared. Speaking on the bills regarding the rank and grade systems of civil servants and regulation of department heads and supervisors, which had been submitted to the Legislative Assembly for examination, Mr Ho said that the bills were aimed at solving some long-standing issues and should not be deemed as a plan to raise remuneration of civil servants. He said that the Government would not amend the rank and grade bill significantly and its promises made to the civil servants would remain unchanged. As for the bill of regulating department heads and supervisors, Mr Ho said the Government would pay heed to the legislators and make necessary amendments.