Macau, 6 September 2022

It has been six years since CEM cooperated with the Housing Bureau to provide free inspection and maintenance of household electrical installations for the elderly living in social housing units through the Community Program. This year, CEM and the Housing Bureau arranged electricians to check household electrical safety for 20 senior citizens, who were referred by the Housing Bureau. During the household visits, Chan Kuan Kit, Head of the Social Housing Division of the Housing Bureau and Jaclyn Iun, Senior Manager of CEM Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Communications Office, greeted the seniors together while presenting food and pandemic prevention gift packs to them. One of the seniors, Ms. Kwok, who is 92 years old, expressed her gratitude to the volunteer team of CEM and the Housing Bureau for their help in testing and repairing the electrical installations. Due to the hot weather recently, the electrical installations at home kept tripping and she did not know how to deal with it. She felt relieved that everything worked properly after inspection, maintenance and explanation by professionals.

Jaclyn Iun said that recently in Macau, there were two fire incidents caused by short circuits in cables and electrical appliances at home, and one of the incidents involved casualties. Household electrical installations often have problems due to disrepair or improper use, which not only affect daily electricity consumption, but also increase potential dangers. Therefore, citizens must pay attention to electrical safety and take it seriously. CEM has been promoting safety and electricity saving through different publicity channels and activities. CEM has also been paying special attention to the elderly living alone, under-privileged families and people with special needs, helping them inspect and repair electrical installations through the Community Program to ensure their safety.

With the Community Program launched in 2000, CEM was one of the first organizations in Macau to launch such services. By joining this program, CEM’s volunteer electricians provide free safety inspection and maintenance of household electrical installations for senior citizens who live in solitude, under-privileged families as well as people with special needs. Besides accepting referred cases from local organizations, CEM also welcomes citizens to refer individuals in need (those to receive assistance shall hold valid Beneficiary Cards issued by the Social Welfare Bureau). For details and registration, please visit www.cem-macau.com or call 8393 1206.

On the other hand, the “Safety Upgrade Subsidy Program for Communal Electrical Installations in Low-rise Aging Buildings” was launched in late 2020. CEM shareholders contributed MOP 30 million to subsidize the upgrade of communal electrical installations in “three-nil buildings” with immediate danger to assist residents in solving electricity safety problems. The upgrade covers the communal electrical installations of the entire building, including the main low-voltage switchboard, main collective panel, meter box, main collective line and CCL. In addition, in view of the growing demands for electricity among residents, the power supply capacity of the communal electrical installations will also be increased during the upgrade, residents can apply for increasing the subscribed demand after upgrade.

As of present, CEM has sent out 600 invitations. A total of 22 buildings have been successfully completed the upgrade, and 53 buildings are in progress or preliminary planning. Upon completion, more than 1,300 households will be benefited from the program. Citizens who have received the “Invitation Letter of Subsidy Program” sent by CEM can contact CEM and various associations for details.