The Civil Protection Action Centre holds a press briefing to give latest information on the Government post-typhoon rescue and relief efforts.
With concerted effort from across the community, Macao is progressively recovering from the impact of the two storms that affected the city in the course of five days.
The Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, today urged members of the public to use the 40 Government-provided collection points for waste disposal, and not to put waste or large debris on the street, as this would make it harder to complete the general clean up and would create fresh obstructions for the circulation of traffic just as it was starting to recover.
Mr Wong gave the reminder this afternoon during a press briefing – held at and by the Civil Protection Action Centre, in concert with appropriate public departments to give an update on the impact of today’s Typhoon Pakhar and the recovery process after Typhoon Hato.
During Typhoon Pakhar, the Centre had recorded a total of 107 incidents, including damage to buildings, flooding and traffic accidents. Eight people (six males and two females) were slightly injured.
Mr Wong said the Government had halted clean-up work since midnight on Saturday so as to ensure there were sufficient personnel to cope with any emergency created by Typhoon Pakhar. The clean up was resumed at 2pm on Sunday, an hour after the latest Typhoon Signal No. 8 was lowered.
With the concerted effort of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Macao Garrison and of the city’s public safety and public security personnel, together with volunteers, Macao had collected in the past three days a total of 7,300 tonnes of storm-related waste.
To accelerate clean-up work, with effect from 6pm on Sunday, the Government was given access to 10 refuse trucks from the Guangdong Provincial Government.
Secretary Wong expressed his gratitude to all public departments, the PLA Macao Garrison, non-governmental organisations and volunteers, for joining hands in the effort to remove debris from streets.
Mr Wong stressed the Government paid great attention to the safety of the frontline public safety and security personnel, given that in likelihood many had had little rest in the past few days due to the intensity of their effort and the hours spent on search and rescue and on relief efforts. He noted these personnel and their families had been fully supportive of the authorities in the way they had carried out their duties, especially during this critical time.
Water and power supplies had remained stable during Typhoon Pakhar on Sunday. Around 90 percent of the city’s road network had reopened to traffic and all boundary checkpoints were maintaining normal operations.
The Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau will continue to provide technical assistance in relation to residential buildings still suffering from power interruption due to facilities being damaged during Typhoon Hato. The Bureau had additionally formed 20 teams of technicians to inspect and help remove loose ironwork and fittings from the outside of buildings and to reinforce broken windows in residential buildings.
The Health Bureau, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau and the Fire Services will continue to carry out disinfection work on streets, including anti-mosquito operations across the city.
Regarding food safety, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau has been inspecting the quality of food – especially of frozen meats – in hotels and entertainment resorts, and ordered disposal of those meat products that were unfit for human consumption.