Government of Timor-Leste

Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Spokesperson of the Government of Timor-Leste

Ninth Constitutional Government

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Press Release

Meeting of the Council of Ministers on February 6th, 2024

The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and approved the draft Government Resolution, presented by the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, for the appointment of Jorge Alves as Executive Director of the Archives and Museum of Timorese Resistance (AMRT), IP.

This decision follows the expiry, last October, of the mandate of the current members of the Board of Directors, including the previous Executive Director, "Hamar" Antoninho Baptista. Although "Hamar" Antoninho Baptista played a fundamental role in the establishment and management of the AMRT, the Government believes it is appropriate to begin a new phase, introducing an innovative perspective under the leadership of Jorge Alves, a veteran and former Resistance fighter whose profile, knowledge and experience qualify him to take on management roles in the public service.

The Government also expresses its praise and appreciation for the work carried out by "Hamar" Antoninho Baptista throughout his time as a leader in the AMRT.

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Also approved was the draft Decree-Law presented by the Minister for Public Works, Samuel Marçal, which aims to establish an extraordinary system for awarding public contracts on works that have begun without contractual formalisation.

This initiative follows the identification of 44 projects whose public works contracts have not been formalised, even though they were approved by the Board of Directors of the Infrastructure Fund (CAFI) in 2017. Following this decision by CAFI, and despite the lack of formalisation, the execution of several of these 44 projects has begun.

Given the possible expectations created for the entrepreneurs who started the work and with a view to good faith, fairness, proportionality and the protection of the national business fabric, the Government has set up a working group to regularise this situation.

In addition to analysing the work actually started under the 44 projects mentioned above, the working group also identified other cases in which work was started without proper contractual formalisation, including them in the list of projects covered by this decree-law, namely five in the area of electricity distribution.

This draft Decree-Law will establish an extraordinary system for awarding public contracts to complete public works that have already begun without the prior formalisation of any public contract. The reference values to be used will correspond to the unit prices established through the evaluation of the National Development Agency (ADN) IP, reflecting the market values applicable to this type of work. The Council of Ministers is responsible for approving expenditure on works contracts based on the report prepared by ADN.

Only projects that have already been carried out to some degree will be covered by this Decree-Law, following ADN's assessment of their quality and value. The assessment process involves stages such as assessing the quality of the project, assessing the work carried out by the contractors, drawing up reports, and submitting them to CAFI for approval.

It should be noted that this law applies exclusively to projects that have already begun and are listed in the tables attached to this Decree-Law.

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The Council of Ministers approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Vice Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Rural Development and Community Housing, Mariano Assanami Sabino, to establish the Civil Society Support Office (GASC).

The GASC succeeds the Civil Society Support and Social Audit Service, given that during the validity of Decree-Law 25/2021, which defined its nature and organisation, there was a need to adjust the diploma concerning its operation, clarify the beneficiaries of this support and make some changes to the service's internal organisation. It should also be noted that the fact that the Civil Society Support and Social Audit Service has been given administrative and financial autonomy and, at the same time, is subject to the Prime Minister's powers of direction has, contrary to expectations, caused less speed and responsiveness to the requests addressed to them.

The aim of this Decree-Law is also to bring together in a single piece of legislation the support given by the state to the various civil society organisations, including the Timorese Episcopal Conference, whose support was granted outside the scope of this programme.

The GASC is a central public service of the Direct Administration of the State, with administrative autonomy, under the direction and supervision of the Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs, whose role is to provide technical and administrative support to the Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs in his role of assisting the Prime Minister in coordinating the implementation of policies for social governance areas in terms of institutional strengthening and support for civil society organisations. Its duties include approving revisions to the support programme for civil society organisations, authorising expenditure and public subsidies, and coordinating the implementation of policies for institutional strengthening and support for civil society organisations. The GASC is headed by a Coordinator assisted by a Vice Coordinator. ENDS