Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Eighth Constitutional Government

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Press Release

Meeting of the Council of Ministers on August 10th, 2022

The Council of Ministers met, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved two draft Decree-Laws, presented by the Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Taur Matan Ruak and by the Vice-Minister of the Interior, António Armindo.

• The first Decree-Law refers to the professional status of the personnel with police functions in the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL – Portuguese acronym). The decree-law aims to provide the PNTL with a professional statute for its staff, with the perspective of improving the working conditions for the respective staff, aiming, on the one hand, to elevate the motivational framework and the self-esteem of the PNTL police officers, reinforcing their ability to face the growing responsibility, demand and need for efficiency in the provision of public security services, corresponding to the level of demand of the Timorese society, increasingly informed, complex and demanding, and, on the other hand, adapting them to the new social reality and the challenges of the country and the world today.

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• The second Decree-Law aims to amend the remuneration scheme of the PNTL. The purpose of this amendment is to comply with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 2/2022, of January 12^th, which approved the PNTL remuneration scheme, in which the State committed to increasing the basic remuneration of the PNTL members by 15% in 2023. In addition to the planned increase in basic remuneration, the decree-law is also updated, taking into account the amendment to the Organic Law of the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) approved in the meantime, and also the need to introduce a more precise wording to facilitate the interpretation of some of the articles contained in the version of the diploma currently in force.

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Also approved was the draft Government Resolution, presented by the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Armindo Maia, and the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, Abrão Saldanha, for the establishment of the National Sports Festival. The creation of this festival is intended to congregate the Timorese population and unite it, to celebrate sporting activity, with the inherent promotion of physical activity and the encouragement of sport in its various modalities, within the plan of physical education and in the categories of traditional, recreational, inclusive and high competition sport. The festival aims, ultimately, to be a way to promote among young people, as well as the rest of the population, the importance of sport and physical activity, and its social, economic, political and public health benefits. It will be an annual event whose structure, timing and format will be defined, also annually, by the Ministry responsible for sports.

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The Council of Ministers approved the draft Government Resolution, presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, approving the agreement between the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and g7+, on the amount, purpose, and use of the subsidy to be granted by the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to this intergovernmental organization. With this agreement, signed between the two parties last March 21^st, 2022, aiming to contribute to the g7+ activities, the Government allocates, between 2022 and 2027, the amount of US$ 1.000.000 (one million American dollars) per year. This grant is to be used for the promotion of cooperation between member states and to finance the operating expenses of the g7+ and the organization of the annual ministerial meeting.

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Lastly, the Council of Ministers decided to approve the procurement procedures, by international public tender, to carry out public contracts for the construction of the irrigation schemes of Laivai, in the Municipality of Lautém and Galata, in the Municipality of Baucau, according to the project presented by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Pedro dos Reis. The Galata irrigation project will cover an area of 600 hectares and will benefit 750 families. The Laivai irrigation project will cover an area of 300 hectares, which includes 176 hectares of existing rice fields, and will benefit 434 families. END