Meeting of the Council of Ministers on August 12, 2020
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of August 12, 2020
The Council of Ministers met at, the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved the Government's Decree Draft, presented by the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, regarding the rules on the electronic edition of Jornal da República. This Government's Decree Draft states that the Jornal da República must be published in electronic format and that, until the National Press of Timor-Leste, IP (NPTL), responsible for the print edition, has the necessary resources for this purpose, it is up to the Ministry of Justice to ensure the management and maintenance of the website that houses the electronic edition of Jornal da República. It is also defined that, on the day of the paper edition, NPTL must send the respective computer file to the Ministry of Justice, which, on the same day it receives the file, should make the Jornal da República available on the website.
It was approved the Decree-Law draft, presented by the Finance Minister, Fernando Hanjam, on the first amendment to Decree-Law No 17/2020, of 30 of April, which creates a salary supplement for employees, agents and public workers who provide the respective professional activity in the COVID-19 prevention or control services or in direct exposure conditions to the SARS-CoV2 virus, during state of emergency. This amendment will also include within the scope of this remuneration supplement the staff who works in the Integrated Crisis Management Centre Situation Room, the National Intelligence Service staff, whose activity involves risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 prevention and control task force of the Municipalities Administrations.
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Hanjam, and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication, Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, presented the Decree Law draft, also approved by the Council of Ministers, which creates a subsidy for those who carried out journalistic activities in the Integrated Centre Crisis Management Situation Room, during the state of emergency, declared by the Decrees of the President of Republic, No. 29/2020, of March 27th, and no 32/2020, of April 27th, under conditions of direct exposure to the SARS-CoV2 virus. These professionals performed their functions in an exemplary manner, contributing decisively to the dissemination of credible information on the prevention and control of the disease in the national territory, mitigating the population’s fear and preventing generalized panic, functions which went beyond the simple professional duty, clearly serving a superior public interest in the rapid transmission of information.
The Council of Ministers approved the Decree Law draft, presented by the Minister of Public Works, Salvador Soares dos Reis Pires, regarding the first amendment to the Decree Law No. 8/2019, of April 24th, which approves the Ministry of Public of Works Organic Structure. This Decree Law draft makes the necessary amendments in order to accommodate the changes made to the 8th Constitutional Government organic structure.
The Council of Ministers also approved the Decree Law draft on the first amendment to the Decree Law No. 14/2019, of July 10th, which approves the Ministry of Interior Organic, presented by the Prime-Minister and the Minister of Interior, Taur Matan Ruak, and by the Vice Minister of Interior, António Armindo. This amendment aims to accommodate the changes made to the 8th Constitutional Government Organic, namely regarding to the position and powers of the Vice Minister of Interior.
The Council of Ministers approved the Economic Recovery Plan, which presents a set of measures for the post-COVID-19 economic recovery, divided into priority intervention areas and sectors, which are agriculture, tourism, housing, human capital (education, health and social protection) and institutional reform. The Plan was proposed by the Commission for the Preparation of the Economic Recovery Plan, which took office on June 18th, 2020, with the mission of recommending to the Council of Ministers the measures to be approved and the actions to be taken for the national economic recovery, defining clear investment priorities and ensuring the greatest possible consensus of society around the main areas of investment.
The Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Armanda Berta dos Santos, gave a presentation to the Council of Ministers on the results of payments and monitoring of the monetary support allocated to households, under the COVID-19 pandemic. This measure aimed to respond to the harmful impacts on the livelihoods of low-income families across the country, caused by COVID-19. Altogether, more than 305 thousand households, from the 12 Municipalities and the Special Administrative Region of Oé-Cusse Ambeno (RAEOA), have already benefited from this support, amounting to more than 61 million American dollars. The Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion is now in the process of assessing complaints.
Lastly, the Council of Ministers, following the presentation of the Ministry of Finance regarding the final ceiling for the 2020 General State Budget, deliberated on the short-term economic stabilization measures to be allocated to the COVID-19 Fund and the implementing Ministry, and on the budget of RAEOA-ZEESM. The decision on the final budget ceiling will be decided at the Executive’s upcoming meeting. END
