Media Releases
- 04 of May of 2022Meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 4th, 2022Presidency of the Council of Ministersmore
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 4th, 2022
The Council of Ministers met, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, Longuinhos dos Santos, for the first amendment to the Organic Structure of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture. The purpose of this draft Decree-Law is to partially amend the organic structure of this Ministry, to allow the resolution of some service obstacles experienced during the last three years of governance, and to allow for a continuation of the work of growth and evolution of the higher education sector in Timor-Leste.
The draft Decree-Law, presented by the Vice-Minister of Finance, Mr António Freitas, referring to the new Legal Regime of Procurement, Public Contracts and Related Infringements, was also revised and approved. This draft Decree-Law had already been approved in the Meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 16th, 2022, however, due to some amendments introduced in the final drafting phase, it became necessary to submit it to a new resolution. It is intended to create a new legal regime, clearer, simple, objective, rigorous and transparent, to promote the economic and social development of the country.
The Council of Ministers approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Minister of Petroleum and Minerals, Victor da Conceição Soares, to establish the Timor Mining Company, S.A.. The purpose of this national mining company is to carry out mining activities as defined by law, including reconnaissance, prospecting and research, evaluation, development, exploration, treatment, transport and marketing of minerals, as well as mine shutdown activities. It may also carry out complementary or ancillary activities to mining activities and provide services related to mining activities, including, in particular, technical, commercial and management consulting services in the mining sector.
Two draft Motions for Resolution to the National Parliament were also approved, presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, for the ratification, for accession, to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the ratification, for accession, to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This Convention is an instrument of international law, which aims to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.
The Council of Ministers decided to approve the annual effective to be incorporated in FALINTIL - Defence Force of Timor-Leste (F-FDTL) in 2022, according to the project presented by the Minister of Defence, Filomeno da Paixão de Jesus. Thus, it was approved a military recruitment process for the incorporation of six hundred recruits, of which 240 will be for the Naval Force component, 240 for the Land Force component and 120 for the remaining units.
According to the projects presented by the Minister of Public Works, Abel Pires da Silva, the Council of Ministers decided to authorize the opening of procurement procedures, through international public tender, for the public works regarding the repair works of the highway Suai-Beaço, Section 1: Suai-Fatucai/Mola and regarding the construction of the Municipal Road Uaica-Kelikai-Ossu.
Lastly, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Armanda Berta dos Santos, and the Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo, as Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, of the Interministerial Committee for the Preparation and Coordination of the Execution of the Vaccination Plan against COVID-19, presented to the Council of Ministers the results of the vaccination and a set of amendments to the Plan.
Among the planned amendments, the Pfizer vaccine will now be administered to citizens aged 18 years or older, also as a first and second dose, in addition to the booster dose that already covered this age group. Those who received the first dose of AstraZeneca or Sinovac vaccines will now be eligible to receive the second dose with the Pfizer vaccine.
By May 2nd, 2022, nationwide, a total of 71.6% of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Nationwide, 36.9% of young people have received both doses. In Dili, 74.4% of young people between 12 and 17 years have already received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Regarding the individuals older than 18 years, 72.2% have received, at least, two doses, and 84.6% have received, at least, one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. END - 27 of April of 2022Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 27th, 2022Presidency of the Council of Ministersmore
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 27th, 2022
The Council of Ministers met, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved the draft Government Resolution for the appointment of João Amaral, as President of the Supervisory Board of the public company Bee Timor-Leste (BTL, E.P.), and Regina de Jesus de Sousa and Acácio Pinto as members of the Supervisory Board of BTL, E.P. It is the responsibility of the Supervisory Board, as a supervisory body of BTL, E.P., to ensure compliance with legal, statutory, and regulatory standards applicable to the company and supervise its financial management and assets. According to the statutes of this public company, these appointments have been proposed by the Government member responsible for the water and sanitation sector, Minister Abel Pires da Silva, and by the Government member responsible for the Finance sector, Minister Rui Augusto Gomes.
Four draft Resolution Proposals to the National Parliament were also approved, presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, regarding the International Criminal Court and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. These drafts Resolution Proposals to the National Parliament aim to:
Ratification, for accession, of the amendment to Article 124 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in The Hague on November 26th, 2015;
Ratification, for accession, of the amendment to Article 8 and other amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court relating to the crime of aggression, adopted at the review conference in Kampala, from May 31st to June 11th, 2010;
Ratification, for accession, to the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court, done at New York, September 9th, 2002;
Ratification, for accession, to the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, adopted on May 23rd, 1997.
The Council of Ministers approved a legislative package for the environmental area, composed of four draft Decree-Laws, presented by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho.
The first draft Decree-Law approved aims to create the National Environmental Licensing Authority, I.P. (ANLA) and approves its statutes. ANLA's mission will be to ensure the implementation of the legislation on environmental licensing, being responsible for evaluating projects, classification, issuing environmental licenses and monitoring the activities of public and private entities in general, proponents and holders of Environmental Licenses, without prejudice to the powers of the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals. This public institute will be supervised by the member of the Government responsible for the execution of policies for the environment area.
The second project aims to make the first amendment to Decree-Law No. 5/2011 of February 9th, on Environmental Licensing. This project will harmonize the existing legal regime on environmental licensing with the establishment of the National Environmental Licensing Authority and also ensure the possibility of submitting any relevant documentation under the environmental licensing procedure at a local level, either at delegations or representations of that National Authority that will be established, either to the Government department responsible for implementing policies for the environment area or its territorially based decentralized services or to any other public or private entity with which a contract or partnership for this purpose may be established.
The third draft Decree-Law aims to establish the Designated National Authority for Combating Climate Change, I.P. (AND – Portuguese acronym) and approves its Statutes. The AND will exercise the functions of the Designated National Authority for the flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol, having as its mission, namely, to approve the participation of public and private national entities in projects, in the context of clean development and emissions trading, and will serve as an interlocutor between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Green Climate Fund.
The last project presented by the Secretary of State for the Environment aims to make the first amendment to Decree-Law no. 15/2019, of July 10th, on the Organic Law of the Secretary of State for the Environment. With the establishment of the two previously mentioned Public Institutes under the responsibility of this Secretary of State, it is now important to amend the Secretary of State for the Environment's organic structure, to guarantee its compatibility with the technical, administrative, financial and patrimonial autonomy that is conferred to these public institutes.
Finally, a draft Decree-Law and two draft Government Decrees were approved, within the scope of the State Budget Framework Law and public financial management, presented by the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes. The approved diplomas are:
A Draft Decree-Law aimed at regulating the competence to authorize the expenditure of services and entities of the Public Administrative Sector.
With this diploma, when expenditures have a value higher than US$ 10 million, the authorization for the realization of expenditure falls under the competence of the Council of Ministers. When expenditures have a value equal to or lower than US$ 10 million, the authorization for the realization of the expenditure falls under the competence of the management bodies of the services and entities of the Public Administrative Sector with extended financial autonomy.
The management bodies of the Presidency of the Republic, the National Parliament, the municipalities and the independent administration are competent to authorize expenditure, regardless of the amount.
In the case of the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Cusse Ambeno, the authorization of expenditures exceeding US$ 10 million falls within the competence of the respective deliberative body.
A Draft Government Decree that regulates the structure of budget classifiers. The specification of revenues and expenditures of the General State Budget is carried out through the use of budget classifiers, which assume the structure of organic classification, economic classification and functional classification.
A Draft Government Decree that regulates the structure of budgetary programmes. The programme structure of the State Budget consists of grouping expenditures by objectives intending to pro results. The budget programmes are structured through three levels, the top-level, called programme, the middle level, called subprogramme, and the bottom level, called activity. The programme level presents general objectives aimed at producing results, the subprogramme level presents specific objectives aimed at producing results and the activity level presents a set of actions that contribute to the production of results. The code of the budgetary programmes is composed of seven alphanumeric digits, with the first three corresponding to the programme, the next two, to the subprogramme, and the final two, to the activity. END
- 26 of April of 2022Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 26th, 2022Presidency of the Council of Ministersmore
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 26th, 2022
The Council of Ministers met at the Ministry of Finance, in Dili, and approved the draft Law Proposal, presented by the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes, for the first amendment to Law no. 1/2022, of January 3rd, the 2022 State Budget Law, for the second amendment to Law no. 8/2008, of June 30th, the Tax Law, and the establishment of the National Liberation Combatants Fund.
Given the international economic situation and the substantial increase in the inflation rate, it has become necessary to implement measures to mitigate its economic impact, providing the necessary budgetary allocations to fund this set of measures, of which the most important are:
Allocation of a thirteenth-month payment for each family (except civil servants);
2. Uma Kbiit Laek Plus Project;
Scholarship for the best students in primary and secondary education;
Establishment of the Veterans Fund
Administrative Post manpower program;
Construction of the Martial Arts and Ritual Arts Headquarters;
Home-schooling program (eskola iha uma);
Free Internet in schools;
Employment for the best university students;
Establishment of the Secretariat of State for the Affairs of Workers Abroad and the Timorese Community in Diaspora;
Revitalization of coffee plantations and subsidy for Lakuten coffee;
Housing allowance for PNTL and F-FDTL;
Payment of the PNTL remuneration difference, with the new salary regime, for a total of 4,096 beneficiaries.
These measures will have a total amount of 1,129,857,250 US dollars.
Thus, to finance these measures, there will be an increase in the allocation for the title Allocations for the Whole of Government, compensated by an increase in the transfer from the Petroleum Fund.
The Excise Tax rates for various unhealthy or luxury products are also changed, which will help to offset the increase in expenditure and eventually to reduce the amount of the transfer from the Petroleum Fund.
This Law Proposal also establishes the National Liberation Combatants Fund, worth one billion US dollars, to ensure the adequate funding of support programs to the National Liberation Combatants, namely in the areas of social support, education, health, employment, access to credit, and income-generating activities.
Lastly, the Minister of Finance gave a presentation on the budget execution for the first quarter of 2022. In the period from January 1st to March 31st, the budget execution reached 8%, with an amount of US$ 160.8 million. Of this amount, 24% (60.5 million) corresponds to the Salaries and Wages category, 9% (US$ 46.4 million) was used in Goods and Services, in Transfers 7% (US$ 49.6 million) were executed, in Development Capital there is an execution of 1% (US$ 4 million) and in Minor Capital, in the first quarter, there was an execution of 0.4% (US$ 206 thousand). The ministries with the highest percentages of execution in this period are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, which reached 33% (US$ 8.3 million), the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, with 26% (US$ 1.2 million) already executed, and the Ministry for National Liberation Fighters Affairs, with a total of 24% (US$ 23.6 million) of execution. END
- 13 of April of 2022Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 13th, 2022Presidency of the Council of Ministersmore
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 13th, 2022
The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and, decided to authorize the procurement procedure, by international public tender, for the award of the contract for the construction of the Paediatric and Coronary Intensive Care Unit of the Guido Valadares National Hospital (HNGV). This project was presented by the Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo. The main objective of the construction of this new unit is to improve access and the quality of the specialised care provided at the HNGV, with special attention to the admission of emergency cases and paediatric urgency. It will also improve the national response to sporadic and emerging outbreaks of dengue, cholera or other outbreaks with great impact on public health, particularly among newborns, children and adolescents.
Also approved was the draft resolution, presented by the Ministry of Planning and Territory, for the approval of the procurement procedure, by international public tender, for the adjudication of a public contract for the purchase and installation of a digital connection from Timor-Leste, through an undersea fibre optic cable, to the cities of Darwin and Port Hedland, in the Commonwealth of Australia.
Lastly, the Council of Ministers approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Minister of Petroleum and Minerals, Victor da Conceição Soares, for the attribution of subsidies to public road transport operators, national air and maritime transport operators and purchasers of fuel for agricultural and fishing activities.
Given the situation in Ukraine, which has led to a substantial increase in the price of a barrel of oil, this decree-law aims to ensure the stability of fuel prices and avoid harmful consequences for the economy and consumers. It is therefore necessary, on an exceptional and transitory basis, to intervene in the fuel market to mitigate the impact of fuel price increases on public transport and other activities that are crucial to the national economy.
The subsidy to be granted to public road transport operators, national air and sea transport operators and purchasers of fuel for agricultural and fishing activities, known as the fuel voucher, consists of a discount voucher to be used at fuel sale stations, in an amount corresponding to 100% of the difference between the average price per litre of petrol or diesel charged in December 2021 and the price per litre of petrol or diesel charged on the date the fuel voucher is issued, taking into account the type of fuel and its characteristics.
The decree will be in force until July 31, 2022, and may be extended if the fuel market's exceptional conditions for price increases remain unusually unstable. END
08 of April of 2022Day Off on Holy Thursday and the second ballot for the election of the President of the RepublicPresidency of the Council of Ministersmore
Sixth Constitutional Government
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Dili, April 8h, 2022
Press Release
Day Off on Holy Thursday and the second ballot for the election of the President of the Republic
Whereas Good Friday and Easter are to be celebrated on April 15th and 17th respectively;
Whereas those dates are expressly provided for in Law No. 10/2005, of August 10th, as amended by Law No. 3/2016, of May 25th, as national holidays;
Whereas the religious celebrations that take place on Holy Thursday are of great importance and significance for Catholics who usually attend them in large numbers;
Whereas also, the second ballot for the election of the President of the Republic will be held on April 19th, 2022;
Whereas a large number of people will have to travel to their respective voter registration centres to take part in the said vote and then return to their usual place of work;
Whereas it is important to combat abstention and to promote the participation of all citizens in the forthcoming elections;
Whereas the practice has been followed before;
Whereas, by the provisions of Article 7(6)(d) of Law 10/2005 of August 10th, as amended by Law 3/2016 of May 25th, it falls to the Prime Minister to grant day-off to "civil servants and agents of the ministries or services dependent on them, as well as institutes and bodies integrated into the indirect administration of the State";
Thus, under the provisions of Article 7(2)(b) and Article 7(6)(d) of Law 10/2005, of August 10th, as amended by Law 3/2016, of May 25th, I hereby determine the following:
Day-off is granted:
a) From 12:00 noon on April 14th, 2022;
b) b) On April 18th and 19th, 2022, all day;
c) Until 2:00 p.m. on April 20th, 2022.
2. The present Order covers all civil servants, agents and workers who perform duties in the services of the direct administration of the State, whether central or decentralized or in the bodies of the indirect administration.
3. Excepted from the previous number are the human resources of the public services that, due to the nature of their activity, must remain in service during that period;
4. Without prejudice to the continuity and quality of the public service to be provided, the senior managers of those services referred to in the preceding number shall provide the equal exemption from the duty of attendance of their personnel, on a date to be established in due course. END
06 of April of 2022Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 6th, 2022Approved:more
1 - the vacancies for promotion of staff integrated into the General Regime of Public Administration Careers for the year 2022;
2 - authorization to negotiate with the World Bank the specific conditions of a loan for the financing of a water supply project for the city of Dili.
Analysed:
1 - construction of the paediatric and intensive care block at the Guido Valadares National Hospital;
2 - political and legislative options underlying the initiative for the creation of the national policy for public and private archives;
3 - progress achieved in the accession process to the World Trade Organization (WTO).- 30 of March of 2022Meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 30th, 2022Approved:more
1 - Ataúro Special Development Fund;
2 - Private investment interest in the telecommunications sector;
3 - Procurement procedure, under the form of an international public tender, for the awarding of the contract for the construction of the “Jardim da Chama Eterna” (Garden of the Eternal Flame); and
4 - President of the Civil Protection Authority. 
25 of March of 2022Timor-Leste regrets the passing away of Madeleine AlbrightCondolences to the family and friends of Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State of the United States of America, who passed away last March 23rd.more
