02. Agreement between the Department of Railway with Holcim Lanka Ltd for transportation of coal containers of Holcim Lanka Company from China Bay Railway Station to Maho Station by special trains

Trains are majorly used by many countries to transport goods but in Sri Lanka the revenue earned by goods transportation is lower than the passenger transportation. Hence, the proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to enter into the above agreement for providing transportation facilities which are to be charged based on the operating cost, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

03. Construction of new bus stands and renovation of existing bus stands in cities and sub cities for a qualitative development in transportation services

The proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to renovate and newly construct bus stands in following towns and to gain required allocations with the view of providing transport facilities and essential infrastructure for commuters, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

-    Construction of new bus stand in Jaffna – Rs. 150 million
-    Construction of new bus stand in Hingurakgoda – Rs. 60 million
-    Construction of new bus stand in Medirigiriya – Rs. 25 million
-    Renovation of the existing bus stand in Kaduruwela – Rs. 40 million
-    Renovation of the existing bus stand in Aralaganwila – Rs. 05 million
 

04. Construction of a File Storehouse in Werahera for the Department of Motor Traffic

The Department has hitherto registered more than 60 lakhs of vehicles. The proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to construct a File Storehouse in Werahera premises at a cost of Rs. 98 million as the space in the Narahenpita Head Office is not adequate for storage of Original Files and Transfer Files relevant to vehicles, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

05. Central Expressway Project – selection of contractors and local supervision consultants for the construction of stage III form Pothuhera to Galagedara

Above section is 32.5 km long and is expected to be completed in 36 months. The Proposal made by Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, Minister of Higher Education and Highways to assign the work for local contractors through competitive bidding under 05 packages each of a length between 4.5km – 7.5km, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

06. Improvement of the National Blood Transfusion Service with the latest technology under assistance from Netherland with special focus on North and Eastern Provinces

The National Blood Transfusion Service is comprised of 18 assembly centres and 93 blood banks attached to major hospitals in the island and is being under improvement to achieve the international standard. The project is almost completed and the proposal made by Hon. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, to establish following facilities under the same project which were not included in the original project layout, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

-    Construction of a special laboratory to check relevant NAT for prevention of deceases transmitted through blood such as HIV and Hepatitis.
-    Construction of a special laboratory with high tech equipment for HLA testing required in transplantation of kidneys and bone marrows.
-    Construction of a special laboratory for the use of Stem Cell Transplantation and preparation of primary blood cells for treatment of deceases such as Leukaemia.
-    Establishment of Cord Blood Banking

07. Project for strengthening of Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneur field in Sri Lanka

The project is implemented with the view of strengthening the field and the Asian Development Bank has agreed to provide US$ 100 million for the project. The proposal made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, to discuss and to enter into relevant agreements with the ADB, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

08. Lease of lands which the Kaluthara Bodhi premises is situated to the Kaluthara Bodhi Trust for 99 years under the Crown Lands Ordinance in long term basis

The Kaluthara Bodhi and its adjoining places of worships are situated in 07 blocks of lands of 3.41 hectares owned by the government and is being developed by the Kaluthara Bodhi Trust for a long period. The proposal made by Hon. M.K.A.D.S. Gunawardena, Minister of Lands, to lease the above lands to the Kaluthara Bodhi Trust on long term basis, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

09. MoU with the Indian Government on the Community Education Centre constructed in Ampara District

The Entrepreneurship Development Training Programme, which was implemented by the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs with the assistance of the Government of India for women affected by war in the Batticaloa District, was an extreme success and with its success a similar programme is being planned to be implemented in Ampara District. Hence, the proposal made by Hon. Chandrani Bandara, Minister of Women and Child Affairs, to implement the said project to facilitate war affected women in Ampara District, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

10. Development of Batticaloa Airport

A project has been implemented for the development of the Batticaloa Airport for commercial passenger services but has not been completed so far. The proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to complete relevant constructions immediately and to assign the work to Sri Lanka Air force, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
 

11. Construction of proposed Ward Complex in Halawatha District General Hospital

Halawatha District General Hospital which is the main hospital in the North-western Province provides treatment services to its surrounding communities. The proposal made by Hon. Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, to construct a new ward complex with modern facilities at a cost of Rs. 696 million to provide a more quality service to patients, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

12. Construction of a seven storied new building complex for the Health Education Bureau

The Health Education Bureau which intends to improve the healthy living of people by various promotion activities holds many awareness programmes with the assistance of various institutions. The proposal made by Hon. Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, to construct a new building complex to facilitate the activities of the HEB, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

13. Signing and enforcing the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons form Enforced Disappearance

The above convention has defined enforced disappearance as a violation of human rights and considered it as a criminal offence and has made its member states to draft legislations based on above principles. So far 94 states have signed the convention and 51 states have ratified it. The proposal made by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to sign the above convention and ratify it in Sri Lanka according to the mandate received by this government, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.