02. Reinsurance coverage for National Insurance Trust Fund for the year 2016

It is obligatory that all insurance corporations in Sri Lanka to obtain 30% of their reinsurance needs by the National Insurance Trust Fund. The proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs to obtain a reinsurance coverage from foreign reinsurance companies to minimize the risk in case of any unordinary loss, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

03. Requirement of Locomotives and Carriages for the operations in upcountry road

50% of locomotives owned by the Department of Railways have exceeded the economical lifetime of 30 years and addition of new engines as well as disposal of inefficient engines should be done in order to provide a confident and efficient service. A Committee of Officials in 2014 has prepared a Procurement Plan for a period of 10 years in this purpose and accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to purchase 12 locomotives and 09 power sets to be operated in the upcountry line, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

04. Adoption of Samurdhi Name for Divineguma Act No 01 of 2013

The Department of Divineguma Development was established in 2013 combining Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority, Sri Lanka Southern Development Authority, Department of Upcountry Peasantry Rehabilitation, and Samurdhi Commissioner General’s Department. However, the poverty alleviation programme of the government was widely known by the public in ‘Samurdhi’ name. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. S.B. Dissanayake, Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare, to amend the Divineguma Act No 1 of 2013 to replace the name ‘Divineguma’ by ‘Samurdhi’ considering the requests made by societies organized under the programme and by village level officers, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

05. Payment of pension to Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne, who served as a Senior Lecturer in the University of Peradeniya

The proposal made by Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, Minister of Higher Education and Highways, to pay pension benefits to Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne, who served as a Senior Lecturer in the University of Peradeniya, considering that he has served till the date he reached the age of 65 years from the date his appointment was eliminated, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

06. Amendment of regulations related to issuance of a new identity card instead of the existing identity card

As some issues have been raised in using the existing NIC, steps have already been taken to issue a new electronic identity card by establishing a national personal data base that enables to enter biometric information of the person considering international standards as well. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. S.B. Navinna, Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs, to amend the Registration of Persons Act No 32 of 1968 for the above, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

07. Obtaining approval for the implementation of special projects to prevent flooding in 2016 by the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLR&DC) 

Several special projects are to be implemented by the SLLR&DC to prevent flooding in Colombo and to affirm a sustainable urbanization. Conservation of Muthurajawela wetland and drainage of Kaluoya rain water and environment enhancement is expected to be undertaken under these projects. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development to implement above projects at an estimated cost of Rs. 3878 million, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

08. Government’s involvement in creating a competitive price for Green gram production in the intermediate season 

Our annual Green Gram requirement is around 26,000 MT and Rs. 851 million is expended annually for the importation of Green gram. To minimize this expenditure green gram cultivation was successfully implemented in the intermediate season. Farmers in Anuradhapura, Mannar, Kurunegala, Monaragala and Hambantota Districts have produced about 3200MT of green gram. The current price of green gram is Rs. 120.00 – 140.00 in the market and is not sufficient with the production cost. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Duminda Dissanayake, Minister of Agriculture, to provide funds subject to a maximum limit of Rs. 50 million for to relevant District Secretaries through the Farmers’ Trust Fund to purchase a 01 kg of green gram per Rs. 180.00 as a means of encouraging farmers, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

09. Plastering of 3000 houses each in 25 districts to mark the accession to power of HE the President 

The proposal made by Hon. Sajith Premadasa, Minister of Housing and Construction, to implement an island wide programme covering all the 25 districts to supply building material and to assist in plastering 75000 houses by selecting 3000 houses each from each district to mark the above event, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

10. Reliefs to Public Officers who compete for the postponed election in two local government authorities in Northern Province 

Nominations were accepted for the election of Puthukuduirippu and Muhudubadapattu Pradeshiya Saba in January 2011. However, as the demining process was not completed and with the enjoining order of the Supreme Court the election was postponed. Some public officers have submitted nominations for this election and with the postponement of the election they are currently on no pay leave. As this matter is out of their control, the proposal made by Hon. Faizer Mustafa, Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, to allow them in reporting to their last service stations, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

11. Replacement of the sound system, CCTV camera system, main clock system and telephone exchange of the parliament

The proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to replace the above systems, which are currently being outdated, at an estimated cost of Rs. 400 million, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

12. Utilization of Indian Loan Assistance Scheme for the improvement of Railway infrastructure and to develop joint Bus-railway service for providing an efficient and convenient public transport service 

50% of locomotives owned are older than 30 years 550 carriages are older than 25 years. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to purchase locomotives and carriages and to renovate the railway signal system using balance funds of US$ 40 million of the Northern Railway Development Project under Indian Loan Assistance Scheme, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

13. Supply, installing and entrusting of an Air Information Management System for Sri Lanka

The aforesaid system is used in gathering required information in air traffic control in the air information zone in Sri Lanka. The current system is inadequate for present needs and it could result in declining the quality of information and generating defective information. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to call for international competitive bids for supply, installation and entrust of the above system, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

14. Southern Transport Development Project – Implementation of new projects using balance funds of the project to construct southern section from Pinnaduwa to Godagama

The above project was funded by the EXIM bank of China and after the completion of the project there is a balance of approximately two billion rupees. The proposal made by Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, Minister of Higher Education and Highways, to improve access roads to the expressway and bridges and to purchase special vehicles required for operations in expressway using the said balance funds, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

15. Central Expressway Project – Approval for examine the possibility of obtaining loan facilities for the construction of the road section from Kadawatha to Kossinna (0+500km-4+540km) and for obtaining proposals from Metallurgical Corporation of China

The proposal made by Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, Minister of Higher Education and Highways, to examine the possibility of obtaining loan facilities for the construction of the road section from Kadawatha to Kossinna (0+500km-4+540km) from EXIM bank of China and for obtaining proposals from Metallurgical Corporation of China, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

16. Green Energy Development and Energy Efficiency Enhancement Investment Programme 

Asian Development Bank and French Development Agency provide US$ 53.91 million for the above programme. The programme is implemented in five main phases and enhancing the transmission infrastructure capacity is one of its major projects. The proposal made by Hon. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, to award the contract for construction of transmission wires as per the recommendations made by the Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

17. Provision of a pair of shoes for school children in rural, ultra rural and alienated schools 

The proposal made by Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Minister of Education, to purchase 640,000 pairs of shoes at an estimated cost of Rs. 640 million under the above programme as recommended by the Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

18. Steps to be taken in approving foreign tours of public officers 

As per the Chapter XV of the Establishments Code Executive Officers of Public Service, Provincial Public Service and Public Corporations should take the approval of the Prime Minister for their official foreign tours. Therefore a large number of applications are daily sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval and it became a practical difficulty with the widened scope of tasks administered by the Prime Minister’s Office at present. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to amend the Establishments Code enabling such officers to obtain the approval to leave the country without delay, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

19. Emoluments and other allowances paid to Chairmen and members of Commissions 

The proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to amend the existing emoluments paid to aforesaid officials in order to enable them to serve fulltime in the Commissions established under the 19th amendment, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

20. Appointment of a Committee to obtain public representations regarding constitutional reforms 

A Ministerial Subcommittee was appointed at the cabinet meeting held on 18-11-2015 to discuss about the constitutional reforms. In a meeting of that subcommittee it has been decided to appoint a committee to obtain public representations in both print and electronic media. In addition, a committee comprised of 24 intellectuals will be appointed to obtain verbal representations and it will obtain representations in various regions in the island as three member boards. Above information furnished by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was considered by the Cabinet of Ministers.

21. Parliament to meet as a Constitutional Council 

Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed the Cabinet of Ministers that he is making a proposal in the parliament on 09-01-2016 to meet the parliament as a Constitutional Council to decide on Constitutional Reforms.

22. Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Finance in Sri Lanka and Turk Exim Bank 

Attraction of new development partners and widening of existing partnerships is essential in strengthening the path of development of the country. Above MoU is proposed to be signed with the intention of strengthening the financial relationship with Turkey, which is an active member and the present Chairmen of G-20. Under this MoU Turk Exim Bank will provide US$ 350 million funds to implement development projects in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, to enter into the above agreement, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.