Security personnel to receive additional allowance next month

2012-06-26
From: Macau Daily Times

The Legislative Assembly (AL) gave its final approval to the bill of monthly allowance for security forces and security departments, which will grant new allowances or additional money to established allowances to the citys frontline security officers from next month. The increases range from 10 to 120 points of their salary indexes.
AL held a plenary meeting to debate the bill with a tag of MOP40 million each year, intended to boost the morale of security forces including Special Duties Unit (SDU), bomb squad, VIP protection unit (G4), police dog unit and Customs divers, whom the bill says have to receive harsh training and face growing risks in discharging hard duties. It also says some of the allowances were kept unchanged in the past ten years and the new hikes are expected to keep the talents in the security forces.
During the committee debate sessions, some lawmakers were hesitant of the fairness and reasonableness of the supplementary remuneration as the bill is going to change the subsidy from a daily to a monthly one, which means the security staff will receive the money whether they are on duty or not. But during the plenary session last Friday, the assembly passed the bill unanimously. No lawmakers spoke before the voting, neither any after it. The Secretary for Security, Cheong Kuoc Va, attended the AL session prepared to explain the governments position, but he was kept shut up for the whole approval process after AL Third Standing Committee president Cheang Chi Keong brief their debate and conclusion of the bill and referred it to a voting.
According to the bill, 3 new allowances will be granted while seven existing grants will be swelled by 10 to 120 points of the officers salary indexes. The 3 new allowances include 50 points for Judiciary Police negotiators, 10 points for special vehicle drivers, and 20 points for investigators using private vehicles. The seven existing allowances given extra weigh include meal subsidies equivalent to 10 points of the 100-point salary index, which was originally limited to militarized security forces, prison guards and Customs but now extended to Judiciary Police investigators and criminal counselors the G4 will have 70 points of subsidy representing a 17 percent increase police dog unit has 50 points (67 percent increase) bomb squad and SDU have 120 points (50 percent increase) while Customs divers and mariners as well as captains will have 70 points.
The changes will incur an additional MOP 40m expenses to the government each month. After the gazetting procedure at the end of this month, the new allowance scheme is expected to take effect from July 1.
As to individual lawmakers proposal of free housing for security forces, AL committee discussed its feasibility and held that such benefits would help to solve many problem. But the proposal was not adopted on the day.
Separately, the AL plenary session gave initial approval to the amendment bill of Code of Criminal Procedures, which Florinda Chan, Secretary for Administration and Justice said, was kept unchanged for 14 years and could no longer meet the practical judicial needs of the society. Numerous amendments are proposed to summary proceedings and procedures related to the arrest, prosecution and trial procedures for criminal suspects, with an aim to streamline the current mechanism and better protect the civil rights of individual citizens, including extending the appeal deadline to 20 days after a ruling, and limiting the time for searching a suspects residence to 9pm 6am to minimise disruption of the peoples living.
While acknowledging the intended result of a more efficient legal regime, numerous lawmakers also expressed concerns that some of the amendments are too technical and wanted government consuls and experts to further explain them to the assembly in committee deliberation process.
La Scala hearing vetoed
AL also vetoed a proposal by Chan Wai Chi and Ng Kuok Cheong to hold a hearing on the five land plots opposite to the airport. The two lawmakers hoped the hearing could find out if there are irregularities by the Secretary for Land, Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io, to grant additional lands to the five plots involved in the Ao Man Long corruption case. But the motion was turned down by 16 lawmakers who worried that the hearing might be regarded as an interference in the judiciary system by the legislative system because the Court of Final Appeal has already delivered its judgement on the case, and the government has started procedures to reclaim the lands. Seven lawmakers supported the motion that they believed would serve to clarify the doubts.

Copyright Macau Daily Times