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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of June 10, 2020
The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and approved the second amendment to the Organic Law of the VIII Constitutional Government, presented by the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak. With this amendment, the Government integrates the National Ambulance and Emergency Medical Service within the Ministry of Health, clarifies the tasks of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers on administrative reform and modernization and defines more precisely the tasks of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs as a member of the Government supporting the Prime Minister in the coordination of the Government in economic matters. Regarding the composition of the Executive, this diploma merges the positions of Deputy Minister for Primary Health Care and Deputy Minister for Strategic Health Development, into a Vice-Minister of Health. The position of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries is also created.
The Government also approved a draft Government Resolution, also presented by the Prime Minister, on the creation of the Commission for the Preparation of the Economic Recovery Plan and the appointment of Rui Gomes to lead this Commission. The Commission is tasked, within a maximum period of sixty days, to recommend to the Council of Ministers the measures to be adopted and the actions to be taken for the recovery of the national economy, properly systematised and condensed into an Economic Recovery Plan. The Commission is extinguished by the presentation of the Plan to the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers approved two draft Government Resolutions, presented by the Prime Minister, concerning the dismissal of José Luís Guterres and the appointment of Arsenio Paixão Bano to the post of President of the Authority of the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Cusse Ambeno (RAEOA).
The Council of Ministers also approved three draft resolutions, presented by the Minister of Transport and Communications, José Agustinho da Silva, concerning Timor-Leste’s accession to three Conventions that constitute the three most important pillars of international instruments regulating issues related to maritime safety and the prevention of pollution caused by ships.
The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). This Convention is a fundamental international instrument establishing a wide range of provisions regulating the training and certification requirements for seafarers for the performance of duties on board seagoing vessels. The STCW was adopted in 1978 by the conference at the International Maritime Organization and entered into force in 1984.
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The SOLAS Convention was approved in 1914 by the International Maritime Organization, and seeks to ensure minimum standards for the construction, equipment, and operation of ships.
The International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution For Ships (MARPOL). This Convention, adopted in 1973 by the International Maritime Organization, was designed to minimize pollution of the oceans.
The Council of Ministers granted full powers to the Minister for Transport and Communications to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on the Cross-Border Bus Movement. This agreement aims to facilitate the cross-border transport of people and goods, promote, develop and strengthen trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange between the two countries, establish an integrated and efficient transport system that is capable of encouraging growth and national economic development, in line with the economic objective of joining ASEAN and expanding the land transport network as well as other services capable of stimulating the movement of people and goods between Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Dionísio Babo Soares, also received full powers to sign the exchange of notes with the People’s Republic of China, for the construction of the Sino-Timorese friendship hospital (military hospital) and the Lere Anan Timur School and for the signing of an Exchange of Notes with the Government of Japan, for financial support for the purchase of medical equipment and institutional training. ENDS