Decisions taken by the Cabinet at its Meeting held on 2014-02-20

November 05, 2024

Cabinet Decisions

Decisions taken by the Cabinet at its Meeting held on 2014-02-20

February 20, 2014

Strategic Cities Development Project - a project is being formulated by the Ministry of Finance and Planning to develop major cities in the country, including Galle and Kandy, to achieve the planned development in those cities. Preparation of Strategic Development Plans for Galle and Kandy cities, together with a Transport Improvement Plan to overcome traffic issues in Kandy city were identified as priority needs under this project. The proposal made by H.E. the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence and Urban Development, to obtain the consultancy services for the preparation of Strategic Development Plans and for conducting Environmental Assessments for the purpose from the University of Moratuwa and far Social Assessments from the University of Peradeniya, and to proceed with the relevant activities, was approved by the Cabinet.

02. Vesting of CGR land with UDA for construction of new Bus Stand at Bandarawela - Bandarawela Town functions as the main service centre, providing facilities for other regional towns such as Welimada, Atampitiya, Wellawaya, Koslanda, Haputale, Dlyatalawa, Ella, Dernodara etc. The Urban Development Authority has designed a new Bus Terminal Building in a block of land to be released to the UDA by the Railway Department. The proposal made by H.E. the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence and Urban Development to proceed with the relevant activities, ~as approved by the Cabinet.

03. Ruwanwella Water Supply Project - the Economic Development Corporation Fund of the Export - Import Bank of Korea has agreed to provide a loan in Korea Won not exceeding the equivalent of US $20,530,000 to finance the Ruwanwella Water Supply Project, which will provide safe drinking water to the residents in the Ruwanwella area and thereby improve the living conditions of the people in the area. The proposal made by H.E. the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning, to proceed with the related activities was approved by the Cabinet.

04. Deduru Oya Water Supply Project - The Economic Development Corporation Fund of the Export - Import Bank of Korea has agreed to provide a loan in Korea Won not exceeding the equivalent of US $58,155,000 to finance the Dedura Oya Water Supply Project, which will provide safe drinking water to the residents in Mahawa and Polpitigama Divisional Secretaries' Divisions. The proposal made by H.E. the President, in! his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning, to proceed with the related activities was approved by the Cabinet..

05. Taking over of an INGO (International Non-Governmental Organization) supported Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinic of Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children and Physical Rehabilitation Centre of Teaching Hospital Battlcaloa, by the Ministry of Health - 'Handicap International', an international non governmental organization has been working in Sri Lanka providing rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities since 2004 by manufacturing Prosthetic and Orthotic devices to cater to the needs of persons with disabilities. Their services have been extended to the Teaching Hospital, Batticoloa in 2008 and to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in 2009,. through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of' Health. The proposal made by Hon. Maithrlpala Sirisena, Minister of Health, to take over the Physical Rehabilitation Centres at the Teaching Hospital, Battlcaloa and the Lady Ridgeway Hospital in Colombo presently maintained by the said Organization, by the Ministry of Health through a MoU to be signed for the purpose, was approved by the Cabinet.

06. Allocation of Land belonging to Ministry of Health at IDH Hospital - Construction of Ground Reservoir at Gothatuwa - Colombo Water Supply Service Improvement Project. the Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage together with the National Water Supply and Drainage Board have launched a major project to bring down the Non-Revenue Water (water losses) in the city of Colombo associated with the water distribution and transmission networks. With the implementation of this project, particularly the residents in the Rajagiriya, Nawala and Kolonnawa areas will be benefited. The water transmission and distribution network system will be fully overhauled and expanded to ensure an uninterrupted 24 hour drinking water supply coverage to the city of Colombo. The proposal made by Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Water Supply and Drainage, to request the Ministry of Health to release the block of land Identified for the purpose, situated at Gothatuwa, to construct the ground reservoir, was approved by the Cabinet .

07. Simulation of Tourism Development through a comprehensive Global Mega Promotional Campaign - The number of foreign tourist arrival to the country .has increased from 447,939 in 2009 to 1.274 million in 2013 and earnings-In that regard from US $340 million in 2009 to US $1500 million in 2013 which illustrates an annual average growth of 20-26% during the past five years. Considering the lmportance of the tourism industry for the economic development of the country and the direct earnings of US $1.5 billion from foreign tourist arrivals and the recorded domestic activities by 5.2 million domestic tourists in 2013, the proposal made by Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, to implement a comprehensive mega promotional campaign pertaining to tourism, for a period of two years from 2014 and to proceed with the relevant activities, was approved by the Cabinet.

08. Prevention of Match-Fixing - taking into consideration the recent developments in the world of sports by certain sportsmen I sportswomen of several countries in the field of sports such as cricket, football, rugby etc. engaged in match-fixing. which is found to be detrimental to the relevant country as well as to the sportsmen I sportswomen, the proposal made by Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Minister of Sports. to instruct the Legal Draftsman to draft legislation for the prevention of match-fixing, was approved by the Cabinet.

09. Establishing the Seethawaka Wet Zone Botanical Garden at Illukowita, in Avlssawella - The proposal made by Hon. Jayaratne Herath, Minister of Botanical Gardens and Public Recreation, to establish the Seethawaka Wet Zone Botanical Garden at Illukowita, in Avissawella in a land with an extent of 32 hectares, adjacent to the Indikada Mukalana Forest Reserve in Avissawella, was approved by the Cabinet.

10. Memorandum of Understanding (Mo U) between the Sri Lankan Police Force and Maldivian Pollee Service on Combating Transnational Crime and Developing Police Cooperation - the main purpose of this MoU is to address and prioritize transnational criminal issues such as, Terrorism, Illicit Drugs, Smuggling, Human Trafficking, Money Laundering etc. The proposal made by H.E. the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Law and Order to sign the MoU as proposed, was approved by the Cabinet

11. Construction of Rural Bridges In Sri Lanka - Phase II - the rural bridges programme was initiated in 2011 and work has already commenced for the construction of 210 rural bridges. These bridges will replace foot bridges and ferries in selected villages. Nearly 120,000 families will benefit from this programme and 537 rural bridges are to be constructed under Phase Il. The Government of the united Kingdom together with the Deutsche Bank, UK will be supporting the project with 100% financing. The proposal made by Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, to proceed with the relevant activities, was approved by the Cabinet.

12. Memorandum of Association (MoA) on the Establishment of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) - this is a regional inter-governmental grouping which was established in 1997 and it currently comprises of 07 Member States from South Asia and South-East Asia namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It has been decided to establish the Permanent Secretariat of BIMSTEC in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The proposal made by Hon. .. (Prof.) G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, to sign the MoA on the establishment of the Secretariat, was approved by the Cabinet.

13. The Accreditation of Sri Lanka within the African Union (AU) - the African Union was established in 1999 to promote unity and solidarity among African States. to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations. Presently, the AU consists of 54 African States. Currently, over 72 Non-African States are accredited to the African Union. Among the Asian countries, Japan, China, Republic of Korea, India and Pakistan have already obtained Accreditation Status. The proposal made by Hon. (Prof.) G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, to seek' accreditation within the African Union, was approved by the Cabinet.

14. Agreement between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan on the Employment of Sri Lankan Manpower in Afghanistan - with the view to creating more employment opportunities for Sri Lankans and increasing foreign exchange earnings to the country, the proposal made by Hon. Dilan Perera, Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, to enter into the above Agreement, was approved by the Cabinet.

15. Grant of Euro 2.5 million from the Federal Republic of Germany to implement the new phase of Facilitating Initiatives for Social Cohesion and Transformation Programme - several phases of the above programme have been implemented under Grant Assistance from the Federal Republic of Germany and the last phase of the project focused on developing the capacity of Local Government Authorities and to enhance citizen participation in development activities. The Government of Germany bas agreed to extend further technical cooperation worth of Euro 2.5 million for activities in relation to the development of a National Master Plan for Social Integration and to carry forward the recommendations of the National Policy Framework for Social Integration. The above information was provided to the Cabinet by H.E. the President. in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning.

16. Construction of a New Bridge over the Kelanl River - since the volume of traffic in the city of Colombo has increased significantly during the past few years, it is proposed to construct an elevated road network to divert the Colombo' traffic to the expressway network in order to minimize the traffic congestion. In the meantime, the Government plans to build a new bridge across the Kelani River. linking Colombo city and Colombo - Katunayake Expressway to mitigate and disperse the increased traffic congestion in the city areas. The new bridge is expected to be constructed parallel to the existing new Kelani bridge using advanced Japanese technology and the project has been designed by considering the estimated future traffic volume around the Kelani bridge from 2022 to 2035, The Government of Japan has agreed to provide a loan amounting to Japanese Yen 35,020 million (approximately Rs.45.526 million) through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the construction of the second new Kelani bridge. The proposal made by H.E.the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and planning, was approved by the Cabinet.