02. Memorandum of understanding among the member states of Indian Ocean Rim Association for search and rescue operation coordination and cooperation on victims in Indian Ocean region (Document No – 12)
The proposal made by H.E. the President Maithripala Sirisena, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence, to enter into the above MoU among member states of the IORA for establishing a framework for coordination of above operations, and to improve consultation and cooperation within states in the Indian Ocean region for facing issues faced by them, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
03. Capital market strategy 2016-2020 (Document No – 13)
Although the capital market plays a major role in economic development and sustainable development in rising economies in the world Sri Lanka has not used its potentials. Hence, the capital market of Sri Lanka should be converted into an efficient and interesting place for share issuers, investors, institutions, and mediators. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, to follow the Capital Market Strategy 2016-2020 that proposes regulatory and development actions to be followed by the Sri Lankan government, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
04. Reliefs for water consumers affected by the drought (Document No – 20)
The Water Supply and Drainage Board has faced difficulties regarding 54 water supply schemes during the dry spell in last two months. Therefore the information presented by Hon. Rauff Hakeem, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, that about 70 bowsers have been deployed for uninterrupted supply of water to affected consumers, a special team has been attached to each regional office of the board to supply water within 24 hours and people have been informed to use water thrifty through media, was considered by the Cabinet of Ministers.
05. Providing reliefs for construction of new houses instead of houses damaged by landslides occurred in Haliela and Badulla Divisional Secretary's Divisions (Document No – 21)
Landslides in Haliela and Badulla Divisional Secretary's Divisions have completely destroyed 24 houses in 2014. The proposal made by Hon. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Minister of Disaster Management, to grant an amount of Rs. 1,250,000 for each family to rebuild their houses and to allocate Rs. 30 million in this regard, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
06. Assessment of damages to houses and property due to sudden disasters (Document No – 22)
Lack of trained field officers to undertake assessment of damages has caused delays in providing reliefs to affected victims. As a measure to this issue, the proposal made by Hon. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Minister of Disaster Management, to recruit 30 retired Technical Officers in Divisional Secretary's divisional level for a period of 03 months and to accelerate the process of paying compensation to victims of explosion in Salawa Camp, landslide in Kegalle in May 2016, and floods occurred in May 2016, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
07. Establishment of a new laboratory building for Sri Lanka Standards Institution in Malabe (Document No – 23)
The proposal made by Hon. Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Science, Technology and Research, to purchase a land of 03 acres in Malabe IT Park for Rs. 168 million and to implement the construction of the laboratory with Rs. 550 million to expand laboratory services of the SLSI to improve its efficiency and productivity, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
08. Completion of the third floor of Provincial Ayurveda Hospital, Anuradhapura (Document No – 26)
Two floors of the building which the merchant ward complex is located have been completed. There has been an increasing demand for Ayurveda treatments nowadays and there is a high demand from local and foreign patients for 08 merchant rooms in this hospital. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. (Dr.) Rajitha Senarathne, Minister of Health Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, to complete the construction of the third floor of this building which has been planned by including 10 merchant rooms at an estimated cost of Rs. 30 million, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
09. Construction of buildings for Medirigiriya Ayurveda hospital (Document No – 27)
About 90 patients daily obtain treatments from the Dispensary of Medirigiriya Ayurveda Centre in Polonnaruwa District. It has been observed that successful outcome may be gained through long term ayurvedic treatment for the chronic kidney disease prevailed in the area. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. (Dr.) Rajitha Senarathne, Minister of Health Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, to build the necessary buildings to improve the Dispensary of the Medirigiriya Ayurveda Centre as a Hospital at an estimated cost of Rs. 37 million, to enable patients from adjoining Hingurakgoda, Thamankaduwa and Lankapura Divisional Secretary's divisions to get residential treatments, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
10. Repayment of security deposit holders of the golden key credit card company (Document No – 31)
As decided by the Cabinet of Ministers, under the scheme approved by the Supreme Court Rs. 544.3 million and Rs. 3,945.6 million have been released respectively for first and second tranches by the General Treasury. The proposal made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, to release Rs. 4,055.1 million as its last tranche to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and to take swift action to dispose the assets of Golden Key Credit Card Company and its subsidiaries and to credit the proceeds of the disposed assets to the General Treasury, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
11. Construction of by-pass road from Polduwa junction, Battaramulla to Udumulla junction via ‘suhurupaya' (Document No – 38)
The government's policy is to relocate all government institutions in Battaramulla, within the Sri Jayewardenepura Administrative City. Many of these institutions have already been relocated and in line with this infrastructure such as roads and transportation should be provided immediately. Hence, it has been proposed to construct a by-pass road of 4 km from Polduwa junction to Koswatta junction. The proposal made by Hon. Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, to extend the road planned to be constructed from Polduwa Junction to Suhurupaya to Udumulla Junction and to undertake its construction at an estimated cost of Rs. 250 million, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
12. Project on appropriate action on minimizing of emission of greenhouse gases in energy production and use (Document No – 44)
World Leaders have agreed to keep the global warming less than 2 Celsius degrees in the next year at the Paris Agreement in 2015. Compared to major countries emitting greenhouse gases such as China (20.08%), USA (17.89%), Russia/India/Japan/Canada (aggregated 17.34%), Sri Lanka's emission is only 0.05%. However, the government of Sri Lanka is bound to reduce the emission from 20% by 2030 the amount which was emitted in 2010. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, to implement a project on supervising and reporting the Sri Lanka's contribution in reducing greenhouse gases with the help of Global Environment Facility, United Nations Development Programme, and private sector, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
13. Appointment of a committee to consider reforms to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (Document No – 46)
As some provisions in Muslim Law including the minimum age for marriage are not conformed to the norms stipulated in some international conventions which Sri Lanka is holding the membership, it is necessary to amend those provisions. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Dr. Wijayadasa Rajapaksa, Minister of Justice, to appoint a Cabinet Sub-committee to make proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers regarding suitable amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
14. National Action plan for Children in Sri Lanka 2016-2020 (Document No – 48)
The proposal made by Hon. Chandrani Bandara, Minister of Women and Child Affairs, to implement the above action plan prepared by institutions and ministries relevant to the subjects of education, health, justice, labour, media, water supply, to make an environment that is suitable for growth and development of children, and to appoint a National Steering Committee with representative from relevant parties, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
15. Implementation of a pilot project of printing selected number of school textbooks in long-lasting synthetic paper (Document No – 49)
The government spends about Rs. 3,500 million annually for providing free school textbooks and the Department of Educational Publications has implemented a programme to improve the reuse of textbooks it has been observed that a certain book could not be used more than three (03) years. Hence, about 70% of textbooks have to be reprinted annually. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Minister of Education, to print selected number of textbooks in long-lasting and high quality synthetic paper as a pilot project in 2017, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
16. Regularization and expedition of the receipt of court fines and stamp duties levied on transfer of lands to the local authorities (Document No – 51)
The proposal made by Hon. Faizer Mustafa, Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, to amend the article number 19 of the Provincial Councils Act No. 42 of 1987 for improving the efficiency of transferring above income to local authorities, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
17. Organizing an international sports workshop, exhibition and a Festival (Document No – 54)
The Ministry of Sports has planned to hold the above event within the first quarter of 2017 in Galle Face Colombo, with the participation of about 8,000 local and foreign sportsmen with the view of promoting 07 selected sports in Sri Lanka internationally. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Minister of Sports, to appoint a steering committee chaired by the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports to organize this event and to enter into a MoU with a Malaysian company regarding its implementation and to obtain the contribution and cooperation in making this event a success, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
18. Completion of the building in Kollupitiya police station (Document No – 55)
The development of Kollupitiya Police Station was commenced in 2007 and has discontinued due to various reasons. The proposal made by Hon. Sagala Ratnayake, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development, to complete the balance work of the building within 2017-2019 at an estimated cost of Rs. 153.3 million, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
19. Projects implemented within 2016-2018 for improving IT literacy (Document No – 56)
The proposal made by Hon. Harin Fernando, Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, to implement the two (02) projects i.e. e-Grama Niladhari Project and Internet of Things Project implemented conjointly by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure and the Ministry of Home Affairs respectively at a cost of Rs. 662 million and Rs. 133 million in 2016-2018, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
20. Installation of a new CCTV system instead of the old one in parliament chamber (Document No – 60)
The Cabinet has already approved the replacement of existing sound system, CCTV system, master clock system, and the telephone exchange in parliament. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to award the contract for installing a new digital TV system as recommended by the Cabinet Appointed Standing Procurement Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
21. Erection of an 800 km long electric fence around villages with wild elephant threat (Document No – 61)
Due to elephant-man conflict 60-80 human lives and lives of more than 200 wild elephants are lost annually. The most productive measure to control this conflict is identified as constructing electric fences. About 3300 km long fences have been constructed so far in this regard. Construction of fences of 275 km is under way for 2016. It has been planned to erect 800 km long fences in 2017 in 07 wildlife zones and the proposal made by Hon. Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, to purchase required material in this regard, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
22. Improvement of high frequency transmitting centre in Attidiya (Document No – 62)
The proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to award the contract for installation of three aeronautical high frequency transmitters with antennas as recommended by the Cabinet Appointed Standing Procurement Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
23. Implementation of the Pannala – Makandura – Kuliyapitiya integrated water supply project (Document No – 63)
The above project which covers Pannala area, part of Makandura area and part of Kuliyapitiya (East and West) and Udubaddawa Divisional Secretary's divisions expects to provide safe drinking water to about 112,000 beneficiaries. The proposal made by Hon. Rauff Hakeem, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, to award this contract as recommended by the Cabinet Appointed Standing Procurement Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
24. Construction of a Warehouse complex in Embilipitiya area (Document No – 65)
The proposal made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, to award the contract for construct the above warehouse complex with an extent of 28,500 square feet including research lab, office building, accommodation, water tank transformer room as recommended by the Cabinet Appointed Standing Procurement Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
25. Construction of Vocational Training Centre, Ahangama (Document No – 66)
The cabinet has already approved the construction of above centre under the Skills Sector Development Programme 2014-2020. The proposal made by Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training, to award the above contract as recommended by the Cabinet Appointed Standing Procurement Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
26. Agro-based industries and infrastructure facilities development project (Document No – 67)
The Government of China has agreed to finance the above project implemented under the Rajarata Navodaya Presidential Programme and Pibidemu Polonnaruwa Development Projects. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. P. Harrison, Minister of Rural Economic Affairs, to award the contract for implementing the above project as recommended by the Cabinet Appointed Negotiations Committee, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
27. Encouraging the consumption of foods of good quality under the National Programme on food production (2016 – 2018) (Document No – 68)
The main attention has been focused on promoting consumption of quality foods to prevent increasing non communicable diseases caused by foods cultivated with chemical materials, and the main challenge in this regard is the lack of quality seeds.
Accordingly, the proposal made by H.E. the President Maithripala Sirisena, to purchase 400,000 kg of suitable seed paddy of traditional varieties with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Services, and to distribute them free of charge among selected farmers and to provide them the necessary technical knowledge in Maha season 2016/2017, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
28. Construction of 3,000 Rain Water harvesting Tanks in Jaffna District by the Government of India (Document No – 69)
Office on National Unity and Reconciliation has presented a proposal to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka for providing a sustainable drinking water source for the Jaffna peninsula. Considering the proposal the High Commission has agreed to provide Rs. 300 million for construction of 3,000 Rain Water Harvesting Tanks. Accordingly, the proposal made by H.E. the President Maithripala Sirisena, in his capacity as the Minister of National Unity and Reconciliation, to sign a MoU between the governments of Sri Lanka and India in this regard, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
29. Obtaining a credit of special drawing rights being the equivalent of united states dollars 75 million from the international development association of the world bank for the social safety nets project (Document No – 70)
The government has planned to implement the Social Safety Nets Project 2017-2022 for improving equity, efficiency and transparency of Social safety net projects in Sri Lanka.
The International Development Association has agreed to provide required credit facilities in this regard. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, to enter into a financial agreement with the World Bank for obtaining the above credit equivalent to USD 75 million, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
