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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of May 22, 2019
The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and heard a brief presentation by the Minister of State Administration, Abilio José Caetano, on the Nova Dili project. The project concerns the planning of functional areas, accessibility and green spaces and a marina in the country’s capital.
The Government analyzed a proposal for a Decree presented by the Acting Minister of Health, Bonifácio Maukoli dos Reis, on the National Ambulance and Medical Emergency Service, which aims to increase the level of operation and response of the medical services, to ensure they are able to guarantee care or medical emergency throughout the national territory, including the transport of persons suffering from sudden illnesses or injuries to appropriate health care institutions.
The Council of Ministers approved two Resolutions, submitted by the Minister of Public Works, Salvador Soares dos Reis Pires, regarding amendments to the public contracts for the improvement of National Highway 1, the Dili – Manatuto and the Baucau – Lautem sections. The deliberations of the Council of Ministers will allow the extension of the duration of the contracts, without additional costs and without changes to the remaining terms and conditions, due to the need to review the current volume of work on the ground and due to delays in the payment of both compensation to the population for expropriated land as well as due to changes in the initial design, respectively.
The Minister of Legislative Reform and Parliamentary Affairs, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, presented a proposal for a Government Resolution that was approved by the Council of Ministers on the rules of law. The matter is of a regulatory nature with the objective of ensuring a better internal operation of the legislative procedure of the Government, which includes better reasoning of the decision to legislate.
The Council of Ministers reviewed an agreement with the People’s Republic of China for the supply of medicines and decided to grant full powers to the Minister of Health, Bonifácio Maukoli dos Reis, to sign the document.
The Council of Ministers also examined a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding, presented by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, Longuinhos dos Santos, on Scientific and Technical Cooperation with the Development Research Institute, from France, and decided to assign full powers to the Secretary of State for Art and Culture, Teófilo Caldas for its signature.
The Council of Ministers approved a proposal for a Government Resolution submitted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Dionisio da Costa Babo Soares, concerning a donation to the permanent representation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, taking into account the historic ties that unite Timor-Leste and this country, in the common desire to fight for self-determination and independence of their respective peoples.
Finally, the Council of Ministries approved an Agreement between the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dionisio da Costa Babo Soares, on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and service passports. ENDS