The Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, has ordered a review of current arrangements and an update to contingency planning in order to avoid a repeat of technical problems experienced on Saturday (30 April) by electronic immigration clearance systems at Macao immigration checkpoints. The Secretary is paying great attention to the technical incident, which led to the clearance system failing to operate normally. It affected the city’s immigration checkpoints with the mainland, those at the airport, and those serving the ferry ports connecting Macao to Hong Kong. The Government would enhance its capability – such as its contingency measures, crowd control arrangements and cross-departmental communication – in preparation for any future emergency situation, Mr Wong said in a cross-departmental meeting on Tuesday (3 May). Causes of the breakdown might include: previously unidentified problems in the operating system of the clearance service, relating in particular to long periods of non-stop operation at several checkpoints; an unusual breakdown of the server’s subsystem that led to the malfunction of e-channels and of the operating systems at the manned immigration channels; and that a backup system for the server’s subsystem might also have been affected. The Government is aware of challenges arising from the efforts that have previously been made to optimise the immigration service, including the inclusion of more e-channels for residents and e-card channels for mainland passport holders; and the extended operation hours of the city’s checkpoints. The Government understands the necessity and urgency of building another backup for the operating system used for the immigration clearance service: such a backup system was put on trial in the beginning of this year but was not in operation at the time of Saturday’s service interruption. Following the incident, the Public Security Police Affairs Bureau has introduced an internal directive regarding maintenance of the immigration clearance operating system. They have also updated their contingency plan regarding system breakdowns and ordered the supplier to optimise the subsystem used for immigration clearance. In the short term, the Bureau would complete the construction of the backup system and commence a study on whether there was a need for an additional backup system.
