Phantom of the Soap Opera

Pedro Cortés
Lawyer*
[email protected]
Pursuant to the decision not to take back 16 plots of undeveloped land, the Commission Against Corruption of the Macau Special Administrative Region (CCAC) has been called upon by the Chief Executive to comment upon the legality and rationale of the administrative procedures involved.
I would not want to be in the position of the Commissioner when drafting the report and providing the necessary recommendations for improvements.
On the other hand, it seems that there is a fear of assuming responsibility for what public opinion and a few legislators have already censured.
Since having the honour of residing in Macau, I have always felt the sense of assigning liability to third parties.
The creation of a group of studies – the infamous public consultation – with conclusions that do not really reflect what people feel is often used to justify a certain decision.
Truth be told, in the concrete case aforementioned it seems that some kept their plots of land whilst others, in the same apparent situation, had their land confiscated by the government.
There are other ongoing situations that require urgent government determination in order to prevent future disputes due to the lack of decisiontaking until at least last year when the new Secretary for Public Works assumed office.
As a matter of fact, and from an outsider’s perspective, there have been cases waiting for a decision since the beginning of the century.
The new Secretary seems to have done the possible and the impossible in coping with the (in)activity of the last decade. More than that is to somehow be compelled to assume political responsibility for a period in which Lisbon was his permanent function.
I’ve often heard that those who don’t make decisions are always capable and competent because they don’t make mistakes.
BY contrast, those who act, decide, opt and choose to proceed put themselves in the spotlight for criticism from all sides. But they make the difference and will be recognized; maybe not in the short-term but in the long-term for the options taken.
The palpable sense of fear of public opinion should not constitute a barrier for the governors of any state. People will decide with the principle of public interest the lighthouse for such decisions.
The welfare of Macau people cannot be postponed – or we may see in one or two decades Macau become one of those phantom places where there will be visits to the former, rather than current, gaming mecca.
*Part-time Lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong