President TMR Urges New Members of Government to Work Harder Than Their Predecessors

During his speech at the swearing in ceremony for the new members of the Timorese Fifth (V) Constitutional Government (08/08) at the Noble Palace, in Lahane, Dili, President of the Republic Taur Matan Ruak (TMR) urged them to better serve the people and the nation.

“Administrative structures are weak and our structural hierarchy is not logical. The central government is large whilst the district and sub-district governments are too small. We must make emends and make substantial changes because our scientific and technical development is lagging behind. There is also the question of the quality of our human resources. We are producing 15,000 undergraduates annually but questions remain about their quality, where will we place them because their productivity is very low,” said President TMR.

According to him the government must come up with solutions for strengthening the State’s presence, particularly in areas where it is not present to create development that is integrated and follow the national strategic development plan that was created.

President TMR also urged the modernization of the small infrastructure available and to improve its quality so that everyone has access to the market.

“We have invested much money over the last ten years in the agriculture sector but we continue to import food from outside. We cannot store and keep the little we produce and this affects also our capacity for distribution and supply,” added the President.

Meantime, in his speech, Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão said the fifth Government is taking over the mandate of the Fourth Government and will continue implementing the program of reforms the Government of the Majority Parliamentary Alliance (AMP) successfully begun over the last five years.

“Some of the work we will continue over the next five years includes correcting permanently the performance mechanisms and the systems of work, the methodologies of procurement and administrative operations and management. We will continue to reform the areas of defence and security so that our defence forces and our police become more professional and have more capacity,” said Prime Minister Gusmão.

According to him also the presence of a good opposition is very important for the development of such a young nation like Timor-Leste because the opposition will ensure the government becomes more efficient. He added the role of the opposition is to monitor thee program and policies of government.

PM Gusmao said the Fifth Government will strive to improve the quality of services provision in two key areas – Health and Education – at the institutional level within the two sectors.

“Supporting management and human resources so health services are undertaken more efficiently because the wealth of this nation are its people. In the education sector, it will not be just about improving the conditions of schools, such as building better classrooms, but also improving the quality of the educators and reviewing the curriculums so they reflect our current reality.”