Kapok: Make the results (truly) public!

Reports released by any audit commission anywhere are often written in a dreary, matter-­of-fact style, and deal with topics that, although of general interest and direct taxpayer concern, seldom capture the public’s imagination. Yet, contrary to the general belief, they habitually make a fun read. The title itself can be eye-catching – although not a Macao tradition – and of course the general conclusions and recommendations need to be unequivocal and effective, especially when your values are “professionalism, independence, objectivity and professional due care” and your mission is “to conduct independent audit on public sector organizations with respect to their utilization and management of public funds,” as it is the case for the Commission of Audit (CA) in Macao. Here, no abusive speech about the need for consensus building, but rather hard talk and professional judgment with the clear transformational objective of making the administration more accountable and capable.
The tradition runs deep in China. Censors, a mix of graft-fighters and auditors, were put in place under the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 8 CE) and then the position of Censor-in-chief became one of the most coveted positions in Imperial China up to 1911. In Republican China, the Control Yuan was and is still today in the Republic of China (Taiwan) one of the five main branches of government as imagined by Sun Yat-sen (the four others being the Executive, Legislative, Judicial and Examination yuan), and the Ministry of Audit is actually placed under the Control Yuan. In the People’s Republic of China, a National Audit Office was created in 1983 and is constitutive of the State Council – we were reminded of the existence of that institution this week when one of the Deputy Directors of the Macao Liaison Office, Zheng Zhentao, was nominated discipline inspection chief in that very office. And of course, we have the pretty notorious Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the highest internal-control institution of the Communist Party of China that brought down the like of Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang.
In Macao, the CA merely deals with the (mis)management of public funds, and is not concerned with corruption or even maladministration as these are left to the probing of the Commission Against Corruption. Although it enjoys administrative and financial autonomy, the CA reports directly to the Chief Executive. Yet, in more than 16 years it has released dozens of convincing and daring reports, first under the stewardship of long-term civil servant Mrs Fátima Choi Mei Lei and since 2009 under Mr Ho Veng On, the only element of continuity still standing today after the extensive cabinet reshuffle of December 2014.
Released last week, the latest CA report concerns the awarding of surveys and consultancy services by the government agencies, and clearly there is a lot to be improved. In terms of number, things are not so bad: out of 1,514 “contracted” projects representing more than MOP1.4 billion from January 2010 to June 2013, only 280 are considered as posing a “high risk” and 81 being “actually problematic”, for a total of only MOP153 million. More worrying though is that all of these are concentrated among a handful of administrations, the worst of which in value and/or instances being the Transport Bureau, the Public Works Bureau, the Macao Foundation and the Environmental Bureau; the main faults residing in discretionary attributions of contracts and disregard for due processes and regulations. It is all the more disturbing that these are precisely the departments where issues are the most pressing and public wariness the most vocal: city planning, transport and environment! The secretaries have immediately issued directives to all departments to carefully “study” the cases raised and the recommendations made. The Chief Executive himself has requested the utmost vigilance and indicated that this poses a wider question as to why so much expert advice needed to be outsourced.
In the end, if the CE wants his “scientific governance” promise to take hold, all the reports produced (and their authors) should be made public as the end result as much as the due processes appear to be at fault!

Published in Macau Daily Times, January 29th 2016

Kapok: Red cards for yellow cabs

The disappearance of the yellow taxis in Macao is saddening. First, because they had become a customary fixture of our daily lives: the Official Gazette reminds us rather aridly that the license awarded to their operator, the Vang Iek Group, dates back to 1989, and a quick look at the Group’s website indicates that Vang Iek itself was established in 1935—a sign that the virtues of family business is not an assurance of sustainability in the new Macao. Second because, as Andrew Scott, the vocal founder of the Facebook group Macau Taxi Driver Shame, puts it, they were the “shining light” of the industry, while the “black taxis” are perceived as “being the problem.” This leaves us with a feeling of injustice. Third and finally, because the Transport Department (DSAT) appears to have performed, once again, below average when it comes to both its regulatory and tangible capacities—and here I am not even talking about style and disclosure skills.
Some might argue that they had it coming. At least 90% of their 100 taxis were supposed to be on call, but they ended up with only a fraction of the fleet actually on call. When the operator was told that the license would be renewed for another year, on condition that 80% of the taxis would satisfy that initial requirement, it failed to do so; and then the license was renewed for only 9 months, provided that 60% of the taxis would be on call. Vang Iek ultimately had to announce themselves that they would cease operations on November 6th, since the scheme was simply not viable—after all this is a company, not a charity. And Vang Iek’s management team noticeably pointed its finger to the lack of support and responsiveness of the DSAT. Sure, regulations and tender-biding commitments have to be respected, but then the overall context changed—and fast—so operating conditions should have adapted just as swiftly.
What are the main problems with taxis? The total number—too scarce—and the pricing—insufficient, thus encouraging malpractice, overcharging and abuse in general. This was clearly highlighted in the 2011 General Policy on Traffic and Land Transportation in Macao (2010-2020)—and what has the DSAT done since then? Not much regarding the taxis, and in fact the success of the Macau Taxi Driver Shame group (created in June 2014 and already counting more than 4,500 supporters) is an indication that the situation has worsened dramatically. I am myself not a big fan of this kind of group because—despite its claim that it is also “rewarding” the well behaved—it is designed to humiliate and discriminate against part of the community, making it very divisive and a trigger for equally acrimonious counter-strategies from those ‘shamed’. It creates a cycle of distrust and, although it allows disgruntled users to vent out their repressed resentment, ultimately it addresses the symptoms and not the ailment. Yet it still has its virtues, since its byproduct, the Macau Taxi Passengers Association (MTPA)—also headed by Andrew Scott—has submitted several recommendations to the DSAT in September in the framework of the consultation on the revision of the law on taxis—dating back to 1999, mind you.
Both the MTPA and DSAT propose comprehensive and far-reaching amendments regarding licensing, training, pricing, and monitoring (including punitive measures with much more significant fines and even the suspension and cancellation of licenses for non-complying drivers), but then where has the necessary holistic approach to public transportation as articulated by the 2011 plan gone? Is there any indication of the identity and motivations of clients, or the detailed breakdown of itineraries in today’s Macao?
The MTPA’s document relies on a rough estimate of operating costs of taxis—admittedly not in line with the ones of the Macau Taxi Driver Mutual Association—and a skimpy survey of only 172 respondents on “satisfaction”; whereas the DSAT’s 2014 consultation document is still in the infancy of proposing a “global study and scientific analysis” of the problem—again, what have they done since 2011?
On average, both Singapore and Hong Kong have 8 taxis per km of road, while Macao has 4.4, so my bet is that we only need to double the existing fleet of 1,380 taxis. Then service and conditions of operation are the real concerns, and for this to be solved, all stakeholders have to be involved if the whole community is to benefit in the end.

Published in Macau Daily Times, November 7th 2014

Kapok: Assessment blues

Back in 2011, a public consultation was organized regarding a “General Policy on Traffic and Land Transportation in Macao (2010-2020)”. The intent was sound, especially because the promise of tremendous changes over the coming ten years, based on mere projections of 2010 trends, was simply frightening: the number of vehicles would grow from 190,000 to 310,000, the share of public transportation in overall transport would drop below 30%, the average speed of traffic at rush hour on the Macao peninsula would decrease from 15 to 10 km per hour, the average time that residents would spend on commuting would increase by 50%, and overall emissions of CO2 by terrestrial vehicles would double (the reference year being 2005 and not 2010 in this case). The message was simple: the unrestrained increase in private vehicles would make traffic congestion a nightmare, slow us down for everything we do and seriously threaten our health.
At the time of the public consultation, the top worries of those interviewed were the need “to adjust the bus lines” as far as public transports were concerned, the need to build more public parking spaces when vehicle management was at stake and plan more pedestrian areas when considering eco-friendly means of transportation. New urban areas were supposed to be linked to old neighborhoods and the historical center via an integrated model that would ideally see residents reach their workplace and back via a three stage path starting with a walk and/or a short bicycle ride, then a commuting via metro and ultimately a short bus or taxi trip to their final destination. A key feature of the overall design was for public transports as a share of overall terrestrial transportation in Macao to climb from 33.6% to 50%, instead of going downward, as indicated in the original projections. This promise was no little feat: the idea was not only to reverse the trend but also to make public transports twice as popular. And remember, that was supposed to be science, not fiction…
In the short term, meaning 2012 in the policy document, the priority was to “reorganize public transports” and “focus on the safeguarding of commuting”. In the mid-term, 2015 in the plan, the “metro” will have started operating and “tangible results in every area supporting the ‘primacy of public transports’” will have been achieved. When the Transport Bureau, the DSAT according to its Portuguese acronym, released its 2011/2012 Annual Summary about “Macao overall terrestrial transport policy (2010-2020)” last week, I was, to say the least, pretty curious to see how they would make the reality fits with the intended goals for 2012. As expected, the overall report focuses on achievements, from the “9.3 km of light rail under construction”, the increase in usage of bus service of 27% as well as 15% of private vehicle trips, the building or enhancement of 22 footbridges and the construction of 2.5 km of riverfront cycle tracks, the construction of 13 new public parking lots providing an additional 4,800 private car and 5,200 motorcycle parking spaces, to the development of “intelligent” information systems about traffic and parking, the promotion of cross-border traffic, the renovation of the accessibility in the historic center and of course the promotion of road safety and the DSAT’s own action. Promotional activities actually take up a good fourth of that 46-page strong report!
Unfortunately, not a word about the 225,433 vehicles registered as of October 2013 (against 113,814 at the end of 1999, whereas public roads totaled 417 km at the end of 2012 against 321 km in 1999). Not a word about a most probable delay in operation to 2018, instead of 2015, of the Light Rapid Transit railway. Not a word about traffic having slowed down by a good 25% on both bridges linking the peninsula to Taipa largely because of inadequate traffic management by the DSAT. Not a word about the third bus operator, Reolian, filing a lawsuit against the government in June and filing for bankruptcy in October. But… how stupid of me: this concerns 2013!

Published in Macau Daily Times, December 20 2013.