The Performance Audit reports “Operation and Management of Macao 4th East Asian Games Organizing Committee, Limited (I)” and “Operation and Management of Macao 4th East Asian Games Organizing Committee, Limited (II)” that the Commission of Audit had presented to the Chief Executive, and delivered later on to the Legislative Assembly, are now officially released.
The two reports mainly analyze and investigate the arrangement and preparation of the East Asian Games made by the former Macao 4th East Asian Games Organizing Committee, Limited in aspects such as the planning, budget preparation and execution, the establishment and management of the “East Asian Games Theme Youth Center” as well as the management and operation of the Organizing Committee.
The Commission of Audit found that the Organizing Committee did not prepare an overall plan for the Games and did not submit annual activity plan on schedule. As a result of this lack of references, the subsequent capital increase proposals appeared lacking strong foundation and accuracy. The reference basis for preparation of the revenues was too high and the expenditure was revised many times. The Organizing Committee invested nearly 4,500,000.00 patacas to develop an e-ticketing system and then abandoned it; the reservation of hotel rooms for the participants of the Games was excessively careless, leading to a wastage of more than 8,700,000.00 patacas of public money because of the idle rooms.
The Commission of Audit also found that the Organizing Committee failed to make thorough consideration to the location and functions of the "East Asian Games Theme Youth Center”, in Taipa, causing serious waste of resources, as part of the facilities was simply left idle and unused. A total amount of circa 39,200,000.00 patacas was spent over the 29 months lease. In fact, the 6 indoor sport venues and facilities used during the East Asian Games could have been more effectively utilized since they were suitable for many purposes.
Based on the audit analysis, the Commission of Audit recommends that a forward-looking overall plan should be formulated as earlier as possible in the preparatory phase of any sporting event; attention should be paid to feasibility of execution when preparing the budget; ticket sales model should be determined before researching on the information technology system; and, the attendance intention of the participants and accommodation needs of the media should be determined early in order to reduce the number of idle guestrooms. All public institutions and institutions with the responsibility of managing public resources should always adhere to the principle of prudent financial management, increase the operation transparency and strive for more effective supervision on internal departments, ensuring the invested public money could obtain the greatest benefits.
The Commission of Audit has released in total ten audit reports on the 4th East Asian Games, and the two reports presented above sum up all audit themes. People interested in this two audit reports are welcome to the Commission of Audit, during office hours, where they are available for free or download them from our website.
