Venidora Oliveira – Minister of Defense Cirilio Cristovao said execution of the general state budget for the Defense Ministry reached 67% by mid-year.
He said $26,217,240 had been allocated to the ministry, which mostly went towards treatment for veterans and boat maintenance.
"We also allocated some of the budget for overseas military training and boat maintenance because the government considers this important," said Cristovao.
He said two boats had been repaired so far and another two were still in the process. "We must wait for the company from Korea to come and fix the boats," he said. The budget execution for the maintenance works totaled more than $600,000.
National MP Arao Noe Amaral said the budget execution was underway and had made significant progress. "They use the money based on the plan already in place," said Amaral.
However, he said the government must demonstrate to the public that it had the capacity to manage the funds properly. He said a significant amount of funds were also allocated for administration like payment of salaries because the ministry was not responsible for any big projects.