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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on December 14th, 2022
The Council of Ministers met, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Minister of Justice, Tiago Amaral Sarmento, for the third amendment to Decree-Law No. 10/2019, of June 14th, as amended by Decree-Laws No. 46/2020, of October 7th and No. 10/2020, of March 25th, which approved the organic law of the Ministry of Justice, and for the first amendment to Decree-Law No. 9/2021, of June 30th.
With this amendment, the current Directorate General for Justice Administration and Policy is divided into two directorates, the Directorate General for Justice Policy and the Directorate General for Administration.
The organic structure of the Ministry of Justice is harmonized with the decree-laws that established the Committee for the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons and the Land and Property Committee.
Decree-Law No. 9/2021, of June 30th, on the Committee for the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons, is also amended, changing its composition.
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Also approved was the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes, to establish the National Institute of Statistics of Timor-Leste, I.P. (INETL – Portuguese acronym) and approve its statutes.
The aim of this decree-law is, within the scope of the ongoing public finance management reform, to increase the management capacity and the technical and administrative autonomy of the national statistical authority, transforming the General Directorate of Statistics into the National Institute of Statistics of Timor-Leste to improve the quality, impartiality, and reliability of the official statistics of the State.
INETL will be a public legal person, in the form of a public institute, part of the indirect administration of the State, under the Ministry of Finance, with technical, administrative, and financial autonomy, and its assets.
This public institute will assume the quality of national statistical authority and will have as its mission the conception, coordination, and production of the State’s official statistics.
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Also presented by the Minister of Finance, the draft Government Decree for the first amendment to Government Decree no. 13/2022, of January 18th, on the Implementation of the 2022 General State Budget (GSB), was approved.
Thus, it is intended to allow the advance payment of more than 20% of the contract value, using the appropriation provided in the 2022 GSB. The submission of a bank guarantee of equal value and the approval of the Minister of Finance is still required.
This measure will avoid the generation of debts and solve situations of contracts whose expenditure is foreseen in the 2022 General State Budget, but which, due to delays in their conclusion, it has not yet been possible to make the payment and which also cannot be executed under the 2023 General State Budget.
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The Council of Ministers approved the Decree-Law project, presented by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, Longuinhos dos Santos, for the establishment of the National Museum of Timor-Leste, IP.
The National Museum shall be responsible for studying and investigating, integrating, inventorying, documenting, conserving, securing, interpreting, exhibiting, and educating regarding cultural assets that represent material testimony with value to Timorese civilization or culture.
This Public Institute shall promote exhibitions of the cultural assets included in the collection of the National Museum and other entities, public or private, national or international. It shall also promote the educational function with respect for cultural diversity, aiming at permanent education, community participation and increasing the diversification of audiences. It will also have as its competencies, the promotion of the right to culture and cultural fruition, as well as the promotion, dissemination, and enhancement of the cultural heritage of Timor-Leste, both nationally and internationally.
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Lastly, the draft Government Resolution, also presented by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, for the appointment of Members of the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosae’s (National University) General Council, a competence of the Council of Ministers, was also approved.
Thus, the Council of Ministers decided to appoint the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Armindo Maia, as the Government’s legitimate representative, as a member of the UNTL’s (Portuguese Acronym) General Council.
Father Acácio Domingos de Castro, Dr José António Gusmão Guterres and Mr João Baptista Fernando Alves are also nominated as members of the General Council of UNTL. END