The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, met, on September 7th, 2020, with the Deputy Commissioner on Prevention and Awareness of the Anti-Corruption Commission (CAC), Luis de Oliveira Sampaio, accompanied by the General Director for the Prevention of Corruption, Rosario Salsinha, the Director of Promotion of Values and Integrity, Leonilda Lobato and the Director of Studies and Risk Assessment, Cirilio Abi, for a presentation of the report on the results of the implementation of support to households within the context of the COVID-19 response. The meeting took place at the Government Palace, in Dili.
During the meeting, challenges and irregularities or evidence registered during the CAC’s monitoring of the payment process of support to households were presented, namely with the registration of citizens who illegally received the subsidy, without meeting the necessary criteria, or who received the amount twice, or who have monthly incomes over US$ 500 and also cases of citizens who have died and entered the list of beneficiaries.
The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Minister explained that “this monetary support was attributed in order to reduce the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the national economy, namely to face the loss of income and purchasing power of families” and recognizing that there were “difficulties and challenges in the implementation” of this measure, he stated that “given the urgent need for intervention, it was not possible to wait for the perfect conditions to proceed with payments”.
Fidelis Magalhães also pointed out that this package of measures to face COVID-19 “required a great effort by the entire State” and despite “being aware that this support may have given rise to opportunistic and profitable attitudes”, “in general, the measure fulfilled its purposes, reaching the beneficiaries who most needed this support”.
The Minister affirmed that it is necessary to “proceed with the investigation of cases of abuse and opportunism” and that “in addition to the criminal investigation processes, it is also necessary to raise awareness in society against the practice of corruption”.
The Minister referred that major institutional reforms are underway, aimed to improving and modernizing the management and functioning of the public sector and ensuring that the State operates within a framework of legality and effective legal security, in a more efficient and effective manners, which, in the future, will also allow the State to be better prepared to implement this kind of measures.
The Minister of Presidency of the Council of Ministers, at the press conference after the meeting, appealed to people “who have incorrectly received this support, for having received it illegally, or in duplicate and also in cases where one of the household member has a monthly salary above US$ 500, to return the amount received to the ministry of social solidarity and inclusion, in order to prevent coercive measures from being applied”.
The Minister also stated that “as a nation, we must continue to show solidarity with each other, because every time someone commits an abuse in a support or in an initiative like this, it removes the opportunity of another citizen who really needs to receive it”.
The Anti-Corruption Commission members also held meetings with the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Solidarity for Social and Inclusion, with the Minister of State Administration and with the Authority of the Municipality of Dili, to present the results of the analysis carried out by the CAC on the implementation support to households.