Part 1: Summary

1.1 Audit findings and opinions

In April 2014, the Commission of Audit (CA) undertook a review by conducting an on-site observation of “Sai Van Lake Square and its surrounding areas”, to examine the work of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (hereinafter referred as “IACM” according to Portuguese abbreviation) in managing the municipal leisure facilities. Subsequently, CA increased 9 locations successively to carry out on-site observations and found out there were numerous facilities and hygiene problems. During the auditing, CA selected 3 of those locations with the most obvious problems for in-depth observation, which included the Sai Van Lake Square and its surrounding areas, the Park of Iao Hon Market and the Leisure Area of Edf. Nam Ou Garden. Regarding to the management of municipal leisure facilities, IACM indicated that mechanism for periodic inspection and maintenance has already set up to detect and also follow up the facilities and environmental hygiene problems at an early stage; for those facilities which has potential hazards but cannot be repaired immediately, safety precautions would be taken, such as removing or enclosing the related facilities. However, the audit result revealed that the relative mechanism of IACM is clearly inadequate on its formulation and execution, and equally the safety precautions fail to perform fully.

For instance, among 30 problems discovered by CA in those 3 in-depth observed locations, 28 problems were not discovered by IACM during inspection, of which 11 problems had not been improved by March 2016, despite CA already notified IACM to follow up in April 2014. Moreover, CA also noticed that some defective facilities posed imminent danger and would easily cause injury in accidents, however, IACM not only failed to maintain them immediately, but also seldom enclosed them for warning about the danger, for example the seriously cracked and sunk paving bricks on the upper and lower floor of the Sai Van Lake Square; the unstable fitness equipment resulting from the rusted foundation in the Park of Iao Hon Market, and the cracked glass door covering the fire hydrant in the neighboring children play area. Meanwhile, the supervision of IACM on the contractor of outsourced cleaning services is insufficient. Garbage near the pavement was not cleaned up for several consecutive days and those trapped in the green belt area and rock cracks were not even disposed for several months, such as the green belt area of the Leisure Area of Edf. Nam Ou Garden, and the rock cracks near the side of the Sai Van Lake.

As a department to be responsible for the management of municipal leisure facilities, IACM has a duty to perform the job of facilities management and maintenance properly. Related to the facility problems, IACM explained that some of the problems were not noticed during the inspection; however, timely discovery of problems during the inspection is the primary obligation of IACM. If IACM cannot notice the problems in time, it is naturally unable to follow up and correct them. Besides, IACM added that, although it was aware of some problems, there was no need to carry out the maintenance instantly since these problems did not cause imminent danger; nevertheless, some facilities apparently have imminent danger in fact. While some damaged facilities would not generate danger for now, they have potential to become latent safety hazards and increase the relevant maintenance expenses, because they are subject to the corrosion and the continuous long time used by residents. Meanwhile, some facilities, such as the paving bricks on the lower floor of Sai Van Lake, do not have apparent damage, but the problems of being cracked and sunk always occur due to the material problem. If the pavement suddenly caves in when a passerby passes through, the consequence would be a tragedy. Furthermore, for the facility, such as the cracked glass door covering the fire hydrant near the children playground of the Park of Iao Hon Market, which is beyond the boundaries of IACM’s responsibility, was not maintained for several months, reflecting that IACM failed to take an active role in the process and to pay enough attention to safety problem.

In respect of the environmental hygiene, IACM’s expenditure on cleaning the municipal leisure facilities was upped to 44,171,870.05 patacas in 2015. However, CA revealed that IACM’s supervision on outsourced services was inappropriate as some observation locations were in a poor environmental hygiene condition, which reduces the desire of residents and tourists to use the facilities. In this connection, IACM expressed that the numerous facility users was one of reasons for the delay in cleaning. However, it is noteworthy that because of the high usage rate of the facilities, IACM has to keep them clean avoiding them to become hotbeds of infectious diseases and influence the surrounding environment and residents’ health.

In conclusion, the various facility and hygiene problems disclosed in this examination reflect that IACM’s mismanagement on the municipal leisure facilities, and these problems not only have adverse impacts on the aspects of safety and hygiene, but also even project a negative image to residents and tourists. Moreover, since the supply of municipal facilities is a basis livelihood service, if IACM fails to provide it properly, especially being in a strong position, there must be a large discrepancy between residents’ expectation and the reality, leading to a greater increase in the negative perception and review of Government among residents. Therefore, IACM should assume its responsibility to carry out the management of municipal leisure facilities in a proper way.

1.2 Audit suggestions

IACM should:

1. Set up an effective mechanism, and invest the required resources to do the management and maintenance of the municipal leisure facilities well, including: establishing a specific and adequate mechanism to ensure problems were detected timely, taking the necessary temporary measures and solving the problems effectively in the end;

2. Immediately repair or change those facilities while they cause imminent danger; if the related facilities could not be maintained at once, IACM should take temporary safety precautions after the discovery of problem, such as fencing the damaged facility to protect the safety of residents and tourists. Even if there is no imminent danger after the assessment, IACM should also draw up a reasonable timetable for following up the problem, with a view to avoiding the problem getting worse, which could endanger the user safety and increase the cost of maintenance;

3. Strengthen the monitoring of outsourced services, so as to ensure that the services providers would perform their duties as stipulated in the contract.