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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 3rd, 2024
The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and approved the draft Government Resolution, presented by the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, for the first amendment to Government Resolution no. 7/2024, of January 24th, on the Creation of the Executive Committee to Establish a Special Economic Development Zone in Oe-Cússe Ambeno.
This Government Resolution aims to improve and clarify the functioning of the Executive Committee, which is responsible for preparing a detailed study for implementing a Special Economic Zone in the region. Thus, the institutional relationship and remuneration of the committee members are clarified, as are the procedures for submitting legal proposals and reports on the situation of the region and the Special Economic Zone.
This amendment establishes that the Committee Coordinator, in addition to the same monthly remuneration, will also receive supplements equal to those provided for the President of the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Cússe Ambeno (RAEOA). Likewise, the Vice-Coordinators, in addition to equal monthly remuneration, will receive supplements equal to those provided for the Regional Secretaries of the RAEOA Authority.
The detailed study that the Committee will produce must now include preparing a proposal for the legal framework of the Special Economic Zone and defining its functional structure. The Committee is also tasked with preparing and presenting a report on the status of the region and the former Special Economic Zone when it takes office.
The Government Resolution also clarifies that the Committee is under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister and that the Vice-Coordinators assist the Coordinator in his mission, following the competencies delegated to them by the Coordinator.
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The draft Decree-Law on the Organisational Structure of the Civil Protection Authority, presented by the Minister for the Interior, Francisco da Costa Guterres, was also approved.
This draft Decree-Law, following the Civil Protection Law and the Organic Law of the 9th Constitutional Government, aims to redefine the organisational structure of the Civil Protection Authority (APC – acronym in Portuguese) to prevent, mitigate and respond to various emergency and disaster situations.
The APC is the public service entrusted with the State’s duties in civil protection matters, covering the entire national territory. Its primary responsibilities include planning, coordinating, and implementing civil protection policies, raising public awareness of safety issues, and coordinating protection and rescue actions in emergencies and disasters.
The APC’s bodies include the President, Executive Director, and the National Commander for civil protection operations. The President is appointed based on criteria of technical competence and relevant professional experience and is responsible for the direction of the service, subject to the authority of the member of the Government responsible for the area of internal security and civil protection.
To guarantee an efficient and coordinated response in emergencies, the Civil Protection Authority is set up as a service that will have six national directorates within its structure – the National Fire Brigade Directorate, the National Prevention and Mitigation Directorate, the National Emergency and Response Directorate; the National Recovery Directorate, the National Disaster Risk Management Directorate and the National Resource Management Directorate – the entities primarily responsible for the respective areas of Civil Protection and which will implement the deconcentration of services throughout the country, materialising the regional and municipal Civil Protection systems.
With the enactment of this Decree-Law, Decree-Law no. 11/2022 of March 9th, on the organic structure of the APC will be repealed.
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The Council of Ministers approved the draft Decree-Law presented by the Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Verónica das Dores, to establish the One-off Support Allowance for people in situations of extreme vulnerability.
With the approval of this Decree-Law, the aim is to establish support for the most deprived people, which the State will grant to individuals and families who find themselves in situations of extreme vulnerability. The aim of this assistance is to ensure that beneficiaries can temporarily meet their basic needs, minimising their suffering and providing them with better conditions of human dignity during the process of social reintegration.
The type of support to be given to the neediest people and the amount depends on the assessment of the situation of social vulnerability by the professional from the government department responsible for social assistance, who will assess the existence of conditions of extreme vulnerability.
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Lastly, the Council of Ministers approved the draft Government Resolution for the second amendment to Government Resolution 23/2009, of November 18th, approving the Parlamentu Foinsa’e Nian (Youth Parliament), presented by the Minister of Youth, Sports, Art and Culture, Nelyo Isaac Sarmento.
The purpose of this Government Resolution is to further strengthen this successful programme by contributing to the training of young people in a comprehensive way, focusing mainly on training in the areas of civic education and citizenship, entrepreneurship, research and analysis methodology, the environment, anti-corruption, management and organisation of youth associations, equality and gender, education based on life skills, and information and communication technologies.
Given the change in the number of Administrative Posts, the number of young people who make up the Parlamentu Foinsa’e Nian (Youth Parliament) has been changed. The Parliament will now be made up of two young people elected on an equal gender basis from each of the Administrative Posts and two representatives, at the national level, of young people with disabilities elected by the Disabled People’s Association of Timor-Leste, aged between 12 and 17, elected for three years.
The Government Resolution also establishes that the Parlamentu Foinsa’e Nian (Youth Parliament)’s rules of procedure, competences, form of participation, organisation and operation, as well as the selection and election process, will be regulated by Ministerial Decree issued by the member of the Government responsible for the area of Youth. The resolutions approved by the Parlamentu Foinsa’e Nian (Youth Parliament) will be presented annually to the Council of Ministers.
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The Council of Ministers decided to extend the suspension of the teaching, learning and practice of martial arts and the adoption of measures to ensure public order for another six months, until November 10th, 2024, with the approval of the draft Government Resolution for the first amendment to Government Resolution 45/2023, of November 10th.
This decision considered that the resolution mentioned above had produced the desired effects, drastically reducing the number of public order incidents involving martial arts practitioners. In this sense, it is essential to consolidate and reinforce the social peace that has been achieved and, in a controlled manner, to allow the practice of martial arts once again in its sporting aspect, ensuring that it falls exclusively within the healthy exercise of sporting activity and contributes to the education and civic and humanistic training of young people. END