Venidora Oliveira – The National Parliament (NP) approved $28,931 million in the 2016 state budget to improve the welfare of members of the national police force PNTL.
Member of Parliament MP Cesar Valente said police officers make many sacrifices that go largely unrecognised to be present and safeguard the security and freedom of citizens.
"We agreed with the proposal by PNTL's general commander and as such we added $28,931 million for bonus' and allowances," said MP Valente at the National Parliament.
The MP hoped these funds would serve as motivation for PNTL officer to improve on their duties and even though these funds are not to be used based on performance that it will still have an impact.
He added that there are reports of police officers in some municipalities using their own money to buy fuel and using their own motorcycles to help victims or apprehend suspects. "We have noted this in our monitoring and we discovered that such issues exist that we need to look into," said MP Valente.
MP Agustino Lay said in addition to PNTL's welfare, the funds will also be used to build the capacity of PNTL officers so they can ensure national stability.
Stability should be created from grassroots level therefore the parliament would increase the budget for security institutions to purchase more motorbikes for village police officers to control the situations in villages to promote peace. "We create conditions for them to do their duties, we buy motorbikes and think about building houses for them in villages," said MP Lay.
Resident Tome da Cruz said it's crucial for the NP to approve a lot of money for PNTL as their work is very important linked to the national security. Almost every day, conflict happens in 13 municipalities and the presence of PNTL is very important to maintain security.
"PNTL officers need to have adequate transports, like cars and motorbikes, to go to the place where conflicts occur right away otherwise they'll come at the time the conflict is gone," said resident da Cruz.