EPA/JEROME FAVRE

Gaming operator and trade union create MOP5 mln aid fund for local workers

Gaming operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment and the Macao Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) jointly announced to have set up a MOP5 million fund for aid to local workers affected by the economic impact of Covid-19.

The main target of the fund includes workers and self-employed people such as taxi drivers, coach drivers, tour guides and their families.

Today a group of eight representatives of the tour bus driver segment submitted a petition to the Chief Executive raising attention to the financial difficulties the sector has suffered due to the virus.

“Currently, many workers are faced with a reduced income as a result of the Coronavirus and are in dire need of assistance to combat increased pressures on their livelihood. In response, Melco and the FAOM have set up the Special Aid Fund for Workers in Need with the objective to help affected families,” the FAOM President, Lee Chong Cheng, said in the announcement.

Recently, Wynn Macau announced the donation of 1 million medical masks to the Macau government in support of the city’s epidemic prevention and control efforts.

In total financial, donations by the city’s six gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaires, plus local junket operators, reached more than MOP100 million.

Last week the Macau govenrment also announced more measures to reduce the economic impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak, including tax breaks and consumer vouchers.