The controversy over the construction of an “ecological island” continues, with some local activists demanding more information on the impact of this waste disposal area on the habitat of the Chinese white-sided dolphin. However, several survey reports on Chinese White Dolphins commissioned by Macau SAR government departments have not been made available to the public.
In the “Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the Expansion of the Macau International Airport” commissioned by the AACM, the Chinese White Dolphin was mentioned in one of the chapters, but it was found to have been “blacked out” in the text and maps more precisely on pages 222 to 225. Worse, they contradict the government’s version that the “ecological island” will have no impact on the habitat of these animals.
In reply to our enquiry, AACM said, “As the content of the report involves commercial copyright (including the on-site investigation data), in accordance with Mainland practice, the publicised version cannot show the relevant content. Anyone who wishes to read the full EIA report can make an appointment with AACM by email to come to our office to study the paper report.”
Public tenders do not promote transparency
In an interview with Plataforma, Legislator Ron Lam pointed out that the government is now paying lip service to openness and transparency. “Why does the public have to face so many obstacles in accessing such information? Why are there unfair terms and conditions that are not in line with the principle of openness and transparency right from the beginning?”
Manuel Iok Pui Ferreira, who used to work in a government department, said that the covering up of the contents of the research report was precisely due to the fact that the Government’s tender format, terms and conditions had been too uniform over the years, and that the tender format used for many years had been applied to tenders in different areas, thus imposing insufficient constraints on the research organisation.
“Could it be that the Government has failed to take note of the details of the terms and conditions proposed by the research company, thus in effect ‘taking the blame’? The public will wonder if it is because of the ecological island that the government has deliberately covered up the issue.”
Manuel Iok Pui Ferreira is of the view that in the terms and conditions of the tender, the Government should state the degree of openness and copyright of the information in the tender, and why the study report cannot be honest and open unless it involves national security, urban pipelines and other classified information.
Lam also agrees: “The terms and conditions of the tender are set by the Government, and the Government can find a company that is willing to disclose the information. If there are contents in the report that the public is not allowed to know after the report is completed, and the report is one of the justifications for convincing the public, isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?”
Lam criticised that basically the original report would not be provided even if it was requested from the Public Works Programme, which violated the principle of openness and transparency. He said, ” Instead of disclosing the report only when people ask for it, the report should be disclosed to all stakeholders and professionals in the society after it is completed, as it is the best information to understand the situation of Macau in various aspects. Why not make it public? The key is to be systematically open to the public.”
In fact, in the “Environmental Impact Report for the Expansion of the Macau International Airport”, not only the Chinese White Dolphin was covered up, but also information such as the offshore water intake of the Coloane Power Station, the results of the marine sediment survey, and the seasonal dynamics of the bird species and population observed at the airport, etc., have all been blacked out in the public version on the internet.
Regarding the Chinese White Dolphin survey study, apart from some clues that can be found in the “Report on the Environmental Impacts of the Expansion Works of the Macau International Airport”, the IAM has also commissioned professional organisations to conduct the “Survey of Chinese White Dolphins in the Waters under the Management of Macau” in 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 to serve as a basic scientific basis for the conservation of Chinese White Dolphins, but the relevant surveys have not been published.
Lam pointed out, “What is even more questionable is that, in its reply to my request for information report, the IAM indicated that, according to the letter of agreement between the IAM and the research unit, the relevant intellectual property rights are owned by both parties to the agreement, and that the use of the results of the survey would require the consent of the IAM and the co-operating unit.
“These clauses, which impede the public’s right to know, should not be found in a study commissioned by a government department, and make the department more inclined to cite individual data in the report, making it difficult to fully reflect the findings of the report as a whole,” he critized.
The “Ecological Survey and Assessment Study of Macau Waters”, prepared by the Satellite Environmental Application Centre (SEAC) under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China and approved by the Environmental Protection Bureau, may be a case in point: only the main findings are published in the “Macau Environmental Situation Report 2022” (p. 34), and there is no mention of the Chinese White Dolphin in the marine life and ecology of the report.
At the end of January, this newspaper asked the IAM why the “Survey on Chinese White Dolphins in Macau Management Waters” has not been made public, and what the reasons are. Will there be a timetable for public disclosure? At the time of publishing, we only received a reply of “the matter has been referred to the relevant departments of IAM”.
Involvement of local organisations in the study
Manuel Iok Pui Ferreira said he noticed that in recent years, an increasing proportion of local engineering studies had adopted Mainland research teams, but there seemed to be no participation of local engineers or architects. He suggested, for example, whether the marine EIA report could involve local environmental groups and monitoring organisations in Macau.
He admitted that local research organisations may lack the international perspective or the practical experience of being exposed to large-scale specialised studies, “but the opinions of local experts are equally important. Because they can share with the research organisations some of the ‘local’ views, so as to produce a report that meets the needs of the people and the actual development of Macau, because we are sometimes worried that the standards of Beijing may not be applicable in Macau.”
