Legislators ask for Gov’t action to reduce risks of dangerous substances stored in the city

Following the fire incident in a Zhuhai petrochemical explosion legislators asked today for government action to reduce the risk of flammable and hazardous substances stored in Macau, by advancing with necessary legislation revisions and a clear timeline for the transfer of fuel depots in highly densely populated areas of the city.

Last week a fire broke out in a petrochemical plant owned by Zhuhai Changlian Petrochemical Co,.Ltd – a subsidiary of the Esson New Energy Group – located in the Zhuhai Gaolan Port.

The incident led the Office of the Secretary for Security to issue a statement warning for the safety risks posed by the current storage methods used in Macau for hazardous substances and chemicals, and indicated the ‘urgent’ need for reviewing legislation on how these substances are regulated.

Today, and during the written interpellations section of today’s Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary session, legislators Ho Ion Sang requested a similar legislative work to be advanced, and noted that residents are worried that incidents similar those which happened in the past could be repeated in the city.

“Macau is a small and populous city, where dangerous substances are ‘spread’ through community neighborhoods, posing a great risk to the lives and safety of residents”, legislator Ho Ion Sang added.

The legislator then remembered past instances of explosions of dangerous products, such as the 2003 explosion of an illegal dangerous products warehouse in Ilha Verde, the explosion in 2011 of a food establishment at the Macau International Center due to a butane gas leak, a fire at a construction site on Rua Seis in Bairro da Areia Preta in 2015 where construction materials and used batteries were deposited, and an explosion in 2018 of a liquefied petroleum gas can in a restaurant in the Pak Lei Building, this last incident killing one woman and injuring six people.

“It should be noted that, over these years, the problems related to the storage and management of dangerous substances have not yet been effectively resolved, and that the respective legal provisions include the revision of the Fire Safety Regulation and the legal regime for the uniform management of dangerous substances, which have not yet been completed”, the Progress Promotion Union member stated.

Ho said that the current Fire Safety Regulations – in force for more than 20 years – should be revised as soon as possible to give the Fire Department the power to enforce the law and sanction infractions.

The legislator also noted that the provisional fuel warehouse on Ilha Verde and the fuel depot on Rua Seis do Bairro da Areia Preta are yet to be transferred, and that authorities also still have to decide where the provisional and permanent dangerous substances depots will be built.

In 2018, local authorities initiated plans for the construction of a provisional hazardous substances depot and warehouse near Sea Pai Van, with a permanent depot to be established in New Area Zone E1; however, the project – currently under the environmental impact study phase – faced the opposition of Coloane residents, with Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng having already noted that such opinions should be taken into consideration.

“Residents fear that the situation of the provisional fuel warehouses on Ilha Verde will be repeated; therefore, they hope that the Government will clarify the issue as soon as possible and reinforce the communication with the different services, sectors, and organizations”, the legislator stated.

Meanwhile, Ho and legislator Si Ka Lon both noted that, although local authorities have planned to transfer a temporary intermediary fuel warehouse in Ilha Verde to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Bridge Checkpoint artificial bridge, a clear timeline for the move has yet to be provided.

“With the completion of the works at the Qingmao Border Post and the various projects in the Ilha Verde neighborhood, the flow of people and vehicles will increase, so the change of the temporary intermediate fuel warehouse is becoming an urgent matter”, Si Ka Lon stated.

The legislator also criticised the birth in 2016 of the Macau Hazardous Substance Review and Optimization Working Group, headed by the Secretary for Security, saying that it only resulted in a database of hazardous substances stored in the city being created.

“This does not resolve the chaotic situation resulting from the deposit of dangerous products in various industrial buildings in Macau and the high rate of incidents”, he added.