The Prime Minister, Rui Maria de Araújo, made a surprise visit to Office of Economic and Food Inspection (acronym in Portuguese: IAE), in Matadouro, and to the  rice warehouse from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment (MCIE) in Bebora, both in Díli.

Rui Maria de Araújo wanted to observe closely the functioning of IAE and speak directly with personnel.

Accompanied by the Vice Minister of Commerce, Industry and Environment, Filipus Nino Pereira, the Chief of the Executive visited the Metrology and Standardization Inspectors’ room. Inspectors explained that the inspection method used is done through the calibration of the scales used in markets and supermarket. He then entered the laboratory room to get acquainted with the inspection process in supermarkets, with the objective of identifying the quality, product validity, and protect the rights of consumers.

Continuing, Rui Maria de Araújo went to the rice hulls and maize warehouse. The Administrator of the National Logistics Centre (NLC), Nívio Magalhães, and the respective head of department informed the Prime Minister that the warehouse maintains, since 2009, over 300 tonnes of rice hulls that have not yet been ground due to problems with the grinding machine.

At the request of Rui Maria de Araújo, MCIE’s Vice Minister and the Administrator of NLC will soon solve this problem with the Ministry of Agriculture, to improve the service effectiveness.

The Prime Minister, together with the Vice Minister of Commerce, Industry and Environment and the Administrator of NLC went to Kuluhun to assess the current state the grinding machine and to find out about the services provided by National Logistics Centre. Finally, the team went to Tibar, Liquiça, to visit the rice warehouse.