The already fragile reputation of Macau public servants has taken a fresh hammering over the last few days.
One senior bureaucrat has just been fired for allegedly allowing a culture of superfluous meetings. In another episode a lawmaker accused Macau civil servants in general of being either unable or unwilling to answer questions.
Orieta Lau Ioc Ip has been removed as director of the Finance Services Bureau (DSF) but has appealed against the decision. She was suspended from her duties in October last year. It followed allegations that she had presided over a management culture where meetings were needlessly curtailed and later reconvened so that officials could pocket attendance payments. The DSF is the body responsible for monitoring public finances and implementing tax policy and tax collection.
Macau’s public spending watchdog, the Commission of Audit (CA) identified Dr Lau as one of three senior officials that had failed to prevent the alleged fraud and thus cost the government more than MOP3.4 million (US$420,000) between 2006 and 2009. The alleged scam occurred during meetings of a relatively obscure (to the public at least) committee called the Commission for the Evaluation of Motor Vehicles. The CA found the committee had exploited loopholes in the mechanism to break up procedures, thus inflating the number of meetings and administrative costs.
Francis Tam Pak Yuen, Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance said in an official statement the Commission of Audit findings “undermined the prestige and the trust placed in Dr Lau to head the DSF”.
The other officials named by the Commission of Audit as failing to prevent the alleged fraud were Carlos Avila, a former director of the DSF, and Joao Janela, advisor to the Secretary of Economy and Finance at the DSF.
In another development, Macau legislator Mak Soi Kun called for self-improvement among government officials.
He said too often officials’ answers gave “no content, no figures and did not face our questions”.
“It’s just a paper document, it’s useless,” added Mr Mak in his assessment of some bureaucratic responses to his questions.
Mr Mak saved his most damning critique for the end in his comments to the local media. He said the worst situation is when officials adopt what he called the “three ‘Nos’ policy”– “no response, no explanation and no contact”.
He added the sacking of Ms Lau was a “good message” to the public that officials must have to shoulder responsibility for their wrongdoings.
“Lawmakers are only to monitor the government but have no power to punish the government for not doing something,” stated Mr Mak in comments reported by the Macau Daily Times.
In January 2008, Ao Man Long, the inaugural Secretary for Transport and Public Works of the Macau Special Administrative Region, was found guilty of 40 counts of bribe taking in relation to the award of government contracts to private companies. He was said to have amassed personal assets of MOP840 million (US$104.9 million at current exchange rates) including a luxury home in London. Mr Ao was later sentenced to 27 years in prison.
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