RIGA, Nov 13 (LETA) - President Edgars Rinkevics on Wednesday called on the government and parliament to pay attention to the "inflated management model of Latvia's small ports".

At a news conference that followed a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) on Wednesday, the president told journalists that while on regional visits, he has often been unpleasantly surprised to learn about a small Latvian port that has 50 employees and a management board of ten members.

"In my opinion, the number of board members should definitely be reduced. Yes, the management board needs a representative of the municipality, a representative of the company and a representative of the state, but definitely not ten members. Besides, according to the law, the board members are entitled to the national minimum wage for each meeting," Rinkevics said.

The president believes that once there are talks going on about Latvia's competitiveness, cutting red tape and streamlining public administration, such things should be improved and it can be done quickly. The president underlined that a discussion on ports is ongoing in the government. He also expressed hope that this issue, which might not seem that important, would also be considered by the government and the Saeima, as it is essentially a matter of legislative amendments.

Silina assured journalists that the issue of port management raised by the president would be reviewed, as the Law on Ports and the concept paper have already been reviewed by the government. According to the prime minister, the Transport Ministry is expected to make proposals for the port reform.

"It is no secret that the government has embarked on a certain course of auditing to reduce bureaucracy, to revise various administrative resources... I think it is very good that we are able to work together to develop a policy that promotes the saving of administrative resources in our country," the prime minister said.