The Macau Executive Council has presented today (Friday) a legislative proposal to change the overall responsibility for the civil protection joint command from the Unitary Police Service (SPU) commander to the Secretary for Security.
Speaking as the Executive Council spokesperson, Andre Cheong, indicated that the proposal to the 2002 Macau SAR internal security law was prompted by the recent civil protection law approved by the Legislative Assembly (AL).
The new civil protection law regulating the government’s civil protection system was approved on August 4 and will take effect on September 15, and already mandates that the role of the joint commander will be assumed by the Secretary for Security, reporting to the Chief of the Executive and counting on the assistance of the SPU commander.
“In terms of civil protection, it is up to the commander to mobilise public resources. At this moment the SPU commander is in general commander. With these new changes, it will be Secretary for Security [Wong Sio Chak],” the council spokesperson noted.
The new bill proposed today will also redefine the composition of the internal security system, abandoning the current differential classification of “security corporations and services” and defining them as “public bodies that make up the internal security system”.
However, the defined competencies that fall under the different public services will not be changed, the council spokesperson underlined.
