Meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 23rd, 2022
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 23rd, 2022
The Council of Ministers met, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Minister of State Administration, Miguel Pereira de Carvalho, which aims to approve the second amendment to Decree-Law No. 6/2014, of February 26th, on material resources and financial incentives for community leaders.
Given the long-lasting character and increasingly demanding nature of the collaboration between community organizations and the State, of the new normative framework introduced by the Law of Villages (Suco), and also given the administrative deconcentration process in favour of the Villages, this Decree-Law intends to update the material resources and financial incentives to be attributed to community organizations.
It is also intended to reinforce the principle of legality, transparency and good administration of the State's financial resources. The definition and quantification of the set of material resources and financial incentives to be attributed to the community leaders and organisations are also relevant for the regulatory framework of the present decree-law, leaving only the rules regarding the procedure for the use of financial incentives to a joint ministerial diploma.
With this draft decree-law, the fixed allowances to the Village (Suco) Heads will increase from 140 to 250 American dollars, the fixed allowances to the Hamlet (Aldeia) Heads will increase from 100 to 150 American dollars. The value of the operational subsidy for contracting auxiliary support to the Village administration is increased from 115 to 140 American dollars, and the value of each month, corresponding to ten months, of the travelling allowance for the members of the Village Council, is increased from 30 to 40 American dollars. The remaining values remain unchanged.
The Council of Ministers approved the draft Resolution Proposal to the National Parliament, presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, for the approval of the Air Services Agreement between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of this agreement, in accordance and complementary to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, is to establish and operate air services between and beyond the two countries.
As per the draft presented by the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes, the Council of Ministers has decided to authorize the signing of the first amendment to the financial contribution agreement for development objectives between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the United States of America, through the USAID agency. This amendment aims to review the value of the financial contribution to be made by the United States of America under that agreement, increasing the value of the financial contribution from US$ 17,900,000.00 (seventeen million, nine hundred thousand US dollars) to US$ 36,558,837.00 (thirty-six million, five hundred and fifty-eight thousand, eight hundred and thirty-seven US dollars). The Council of Ministers decided to grant full powers to the Minister of Finance to sign the agreement on behalf of the Government of Timor-Leste.
Also approved was the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, for the supplementary payment to employees, agents and contractors of the National Press of Timor-Leste, I.P. assigned to the printing of ballots for the President of the Republic election. This supplementary payment takes into consideration the need to ensure compliance with the established electoral calendar, and that the short period that exists for the printing of ballot papers requires continuous work, 24 hours a day, over a long period, during which workers are unable to take a weekly rest day and perform their work beyond the normal working hours and under extraordinarily demanding conditions.
The Council of Ministers decided to approve the Government's Legislative Plan for 2022, also presented by the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The legislative plan was prepared based on proposals submitted by members of the Council of Ministers and consists of a forecast of the Government's legislative interventions and respective priorities, divided by sectors, for the year 2022. Legislative planning is one of the instruments established to improve the quality of the Government's legislative activity.
This was followed by a presentation, by the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, on the policy options regarding human resources management issues in the Public Administration. The three issues addressed in the presentation relate to the implementation of the mandatory retirement age for civil servants, the regime for trainers and human resource development issues in the civil service, and the amendment of the organic law for the National Institute of Public Administration, known as INAP for short.
Lastly, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral, gave a presentation on the existing national and international private investment proposals in the telecommunications sector, for the connection of the fibre optic cable to Timor-Leste. END
