Meeting of the East Timor Council of Ministers of 10 November 2015

ETLJB 13/11/2015 Government of East Timor Press Release Dili 10 November 2015 The Council of Ministers met this Tuesday, November 10th, 2015, in the meeting room of the Council of Ministers, at the Government Palace in Dili, and approved:

1. Decision to appeal against the Judgment from the Board of Auditors refusing the Prior
Approval to the contract of design and construction of the Suai Supply Base
The Council of Ministers examined the judgment of the collective of the Judges of the Board of Auditors of the Court of Appeal, which refused the prior approval to the contract of design and construction of Suai Supply Base concluded with the engineering and construction consortium HDEC-HEC, from South Korea. Following this judgment, was approved the project of appeal of Government, to appeal to the Board of Auditors.

ETLJB Editor's Note: See also on ETLJB Timorese Audit Chamber “fails” largest contract in the history of the country

2. Government Resolution on the importance of sandalwood as an emblematic plant of
national value The National Policy and Strategies for the Forest Sector defines as a specific objective the protection of forests, in the framework of which the protection of sandalwood is assumed as a priority. Thus, the Council of Ministers adopted the resolution that promotes activities of sandalwood planting, the guarantee of compliance with laws and regulations applicable to environmental protection and repression of the illegal exploitation of forests and forest products.

ETLJB Editor's Note: See also on ETLJB:
Portugal invaded Timor-Leste because of sandalwood, says PM Gusmao
and on the East Timor Law Journal Sandalwood and Environmental Law in East Timor

3. First amendment to the structure of Courts’ Support Services The present draft amendment seeks to remove from judges the responsibility for the administrative services of support to the courts, namely in the financial and patrimonial, human resources and judicial service areas, that pass to the competence of the Courts General Directorate. The structure of the Courts’ Support Services was approved in the Council of Ministers, on April 4th, 2012.

4. First amendment to Decree-Law that created the National Petroleum Authority
Since its creation, the NPA (ANP in Portuguese) assembled and developed a considerable set of human and technical resources, as well as the knowledge and experience needed to handle large scale and complex projects. The proper regulation of the mining sector is a fundamental element for the socioeconomic development of the country and the approval of a new set of rules will create a modern legal framework, in line with the best international practices. Thus, the Council of Ministers decided to amend the statutes of the ANP and give it the new mission as regulatory body for licensing and exploration activities of the mining industry.

At this meeting, the Council of Ministers also examined:

The Comoro bridge, Dili. Wikimapia

1. The project for construction of the new Comoro bridge
The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications presented the project of the new Comoro bridge. After the construction of the CPLP bridge, there is an urgent need to improve road traffic in Dili, in particular between the west and east parts. Starting at the crossroad of the Timor Block building and finishing at the national road Ao3, it will have an extension exceeding 3 kilometres.