The 1st meeting of the Commission for Donation of the Estate of the Mission of UNMIT in Timor-Leste, took place on January 9, in the Knowledge Centre, at the Ministry of Finance. Chaired by the Vice Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Commission, Rui Manuel Hanjam, the meeting intended to disclose and clarify the players on the structure, objectives and terms of reference of the Donation Commission, as well as the mechanisms and procedures inherent to the process of the estate donation.

Constituting a focal point for coordination of the administrative process of the donation, the newly established Commission will include an inter-ministerial structure, integrating, as its members, the Director-General of the Secretariat of State of Transports and Communication, the National Director of Management of State Assets, the Director of Land and Property from the Ministry of Justice, the Director of Logistics of the PNTL, the Director of the Assets from the Secretariat of Defense, the technical teams of the PNTL and the Ministries relevant to the donation process.

The Commission should ensure that the estate donated by UNMIT is distributed according to the actual needs of each ministry and institution, also making sure they have adequate funds for maintenance of the donated goods. This is particularly relevant when the property in question refers to vehicles.

In order to make this a viable process and avoid irregularities, the ministries or institutions should make an inventory of their needs, write an application and submit it to the Commission, who later will take it for approval at the Meeting of Council of Ministers.

Upon delivery, all goods donated will be recorded in order to prevent the diversion of these for private use or misuse. The President of the Commission stressed that all the institutions of the State can receive goods from UNMIT estate, such as vehicles and computer equipment, provided the request is in accordance with their needs and this request is approved by the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister.

The meeting was also attended by Amadu Kamara, the Head of Support to the UNMIT Mission in Timor-Leste, who welcomed the Council of Ministers for its initiative in establishing the Donation Committee and highlighted that UNMIT wants to make sure that the government of Timor-Leste has the human resources, budget and planning that can ensure the full use of the donated estate.