The East Asian Games is just five months away; everybody knows it is destined to lose money. It is unlikely that masses of tourists will want to watch this sub-regional sports event. In fact, many are starting to question whether it is worth paying 5 billion patacas to host it. On the other hand, Macau can afford it - just three months of casino direct taxes will cover the cost.
The main event venue, the Macau Dome, was scheduled to open by March. We are still waiting. Construction of the bowling venue started only three weeks ago. A media and information centre, which was unveiled last year, is about to undergo renovations estimated at 1 million patacas.
The original budget was 2 billion patacas; the massive rise has caused public outrage. But such anger is misdirected - Macau residents should be demanding more information about how the 5 billion patacas is being spent.
This lack of information has allowed East Asian Games Organising Committee chairman Manuel Silverio to get away with a vague explanation: that budgets should be flexible.
'To start with, there is no fixed budget,' he said. 'We spend according to our needs. There was some budgeting but, of course, we cannot rule out technical adjustments and follow-ups.'
Spending 5 billion patacas on an event that lasts just two weeks is the equivalent of asking every Macau resident to pay 11,000 patacas for no apparent reason.
