Ministry of Finance inaugurates repair shop of State vehicles
The Ministry of Finance, through the Directorate General for State Finances, inaugurated the pilot project of the repair shop for State vehicles . The event took place on October 9th, 2014, at the former United Nations’ transportation service, in Balide, Dili. The repair shop will serve the vehicles from the Vice Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Finance, Secretariat of State of Security and the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice.
On this inauguration ceremony, the Vice Prime Minister, Fernando La Sama de Araújo, called on the Directorate for Supply and Asset Management to ensure a management for this repair shop with a sense of nationalism and patriotism.
The interim Minister of Finance, Santina Cardoso, considered that there was no effective management of the vehicle fleet. “With the establishment of this repair shop, we want to set an example of saving capacity regarding maintenance, repair and fuel costs. If we succeed on this project, it can be an incentive to the remaining institutions to also implement it”.
According to Santina Cardoso, the Ministry of Finance has already started to install GPS devices on vehicles, in Dili, in order to set a limit and control on their circulation. When vehicles need to leave the capital, they should get a license, explaining the aim of that exit. Without it, cars circulating out of the city will automatically stop working. It is a measure to reinforce control in terms of the use of the General State Budget.
The Director General for State Finance, Januário Gama, referred that, being this a pilot repair shop, it may, at the same time, set a pattern to be adjusted by companies, through the standardization of a more effective and efficient system, and that the success and quality of its works will depend on the good cooperation of the institutions benefiting from it.
Januário Gama also informed that it will only be performed the basic maintenance of the vehicles, that is, maintenance A, B and C. The most demanding maintenances will be subject to an inspection stage at the repair shop, followed by a repair recommendation to the companies involved in the maintenance contracts. After the repair work, vehicles shall be again sent to the pilot repair shop, for purposes of inspection and quality confirmation of the repair work.
The Director General for State Finance also stated that 419 vehicles have already been submitted to maintenance at the repair shop. 192 of these vehicles belong to the Ministry of Finance – of which 54 are new vehicles – not considering the VIP vehicles purchased for the CPSC (Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries) event. Of the remaining vehicles, 22 belong to the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, 101 to the Secretariat of State for Security and 14 to the Vice Prime Minister’s Office.
Structurally, the pilot repair shop is under direct supervision of the Director State Asset Management and technically dependent on the Head of Department for State Asset Management, and consists of a mechanical section, reception, tool compartment and maintenance section.
Present at the ceremony were, apart from the Interim Prime Minister, Fernando La Sama de Araújo, the Vice Minister of Finance, who also holds the position of Interim Minister of the same ministry, Santina Cardoso, the Secretary of State for Security, Francisco da Costa Guterres, the representative for the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, the representative for the Secretariat of State for Institutional Strengthening, the Parish Priest of Balide, General and National Directors, advisors and officials, as well as representatives from the existing repair shops in Dili.
