The Department of immigration and Emigration has the responsibility to detain these persons and provide facilities until necessary action is taken to remove those who are over staying beyond the period permitted time. Since it is most suitable to use a location near to the Katunayake International Airport through which most of the immigration and Emigration activities are taking place, an extent of 100 perches from the Gm/Katan/Kahadiyawala Watta land that has been assigned to Tourist Development Authority to establish a Tourist Hub is to be offered to the Department of immigration and Emigration for the establishment of a centre to keep these overstaying foreigners. The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal made for this purpose by the Hon. Minister of Public Order and Christian Affairs John Amaratunga.
02. National Policy and Strategy on the Health of the Young Persons
During the past few decades various actions have been taken to improve the health situations of the younger people in Sri Lanka and through various international conventions and through local Acts that were adopted have pointed out the need to improve the health situation of the children and the younger generation. At present nearly 25% of the Sri Lankan population is represented by the younger generation. Due to the physical and mental changes taking place in this age category they get tempted mostly to indulge in dangerous activities. It is possible to prevent this situation and produce a healthy younger and elder population by providing advisory services, introducing nutritious programmes, and by providing propagation health knowledge. The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal made by the Hon. Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senaratne to introduce the National Policy and Strategy on the Health of the Young Persons to be closely associated with the younger generation and thereby make them aware of Maternal and Child policies, National Nutritious Policy, the Health Policy on population and propagation, the national policy for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, the policy of prevention of non-communicable diseases.
03. Obtaining of Consultancy Services for construction supervision of civil works for the Northern Section II from Kerawalapitiya to Kadawatha segment of the Outer Circular Highway Project
The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal made by the Hon. Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion Kabeer Hashim to obtain a treasury guarantee to the Bank of Ceylon and to authorize the Road Development Authority to enter into a loan agreement with the Bank of Ceylon to obtain Consultancy Services for construction supervision of civil works for the Northern Section II from Kerawalapitiya to Kadawatha segment of the Outer Circular Highway Project.
04. New Prison Administration Act
The Prison Ordinance in force at present was enacted in 1877 and there exists many lacunas that have been identified over the years in the Prison Administration. In order to overcome these shortages and to meet the International standards and best practices identified as at present, a committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Supreme Court Judge Hector Yapa Abeywardene to recommend proposals that should be included in a new Prison Administration Act. The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal made by the Hon. Minister of Justice Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse to formulate a new Prison Administration Act as it has been recommended by the experts committee.
05. Construction of naval 5 dockyard in the Hambantota Port
The Cabinet of Ministers took note of a report submitted by the Hon. Minister of Ports and Shipping Arjuna Ranatunge to look into the possibility of constructing a naval dock yard at the Hambantota Port and steps being taken to prepare streamlined plans in this connection and to undertake necessary feasibility studies.
06. Expenditure incurred by Institutions under the Ministry of Internal Transport during the last presidential election relating to external activities which do not come under the official duties.
The Hon. Minister of Internal Transport Ranjith Madduma Bandara presented to the Cabinet of Ministers the undermentioned details relating to expenditure incurred by Institutions coming under his Ministry during the last Presidential Election.
- An expenditure of Rs. 8.2 Million incurred by the National Transport Commission on account of event where the former President met the Bus owners / Drivers / Conductors on the 6th December 2014.
- The buses of the Sri Lanka Transport Board have been provided for public participation at the United People’s Freedom Alliance political rallies and only Rs. 50 Million has been provided as advance for this. A claim has been sent to the General Secretary of the United People’s Freedom Alliance requesting payment of Rs. 142.5 Million on account of unsettled dues in this regard. Up to now action has not been taken to settle this outstanding payment.
- Nearly 50 feet stretch of the wall of the Shalika Ground has been demolished owing to the usage of the ground for Presidential election meetings, which has necessitated repair of the same at substantial extra cost.
The Cabinet of Ministers noted the above details and decided to take legal action to get the payments due and to obtain compensations for the damages that had been caused.
07. Construction of a two storied Hostel for the National Institute of Language Education and Training
The National Institute of Language and Education and Training (NILET) was established by the Act No. 26 of 2007 and has been located at Galewatte, Agalawatta in the Kalutara district in the year 2008. The Institution has been engaging carrying out its mandate by enhancing bilingual and trilingual skills of public officers, teachers and persons who are keen to learn languages in order to efficiently implement the Official Languages Policy. Along with its mandate the Institution also carry out programmes such as teacher training to produce skilled teachers to teach Sinhala, Tamil and English languages , training translators, and interpreters, language training for public officers, conducting recognized Language Diploma Courses and awarding certificates etc.
When providing second language training programmes for public officers, not only the non residential trainings, but also residential training programmes are conducted by the Institution, in particular though the Institution has been conducting the training programmes from its inception for the doctors who have completed their internships, due to the constraints in the accommodation facilities, these training programmes are conducted for only a limited number of participants at present.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal made by the Hon. Minister of Public Administration, Local Government and Democratic Governance Karu Jayasuriya to construct a hostel to accommodate another 90 residential trainees in addition to the present number of trainees in the same location at Agalawatte and to award the contract for a sum of Rs. 98.8 Million.
08. Implementation of priority water supply projects utilising funds from local banks. Medirigiriya Water Supply Project – Phase II
Implementation of the above project under its initial plan has failed due to the difficulties faced in obtaining the required amount of water from the Iranamadu Tank. The proposal made by Rauff Hakeem, Minister of Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage, to discuss with Asian Development Board on funding the above project to be implemented utilizing the available ground water and desalinated sea water, and to discuss with the AFD institution of France regarding the sanitation project to be implemented in the said area, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
09. Establishment of Emergency and Accident Centre at Batticaloa Teaching Hospital
The above project, which is implemented with the funds of the Government of Sri Lanka and the Foundation Supporting a National Trauma Service in Sri Lanka in State Victoria in Australia, addresses the urgent need of establishment of a three storied emergency and accident trauma complex accommodating up to 100 beds mainly with 06 operating theatres, Intensive Care Units to enhance the quality and capacity of the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital to cater for the increasing demands of Emergency and Accident Services of the Eastern Province. The proposal made by Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine, to award the contract of the above project to the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau at an estimated cost of Rs. 807 million, considering its urgent need, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
10. Central Expressway
The road section from Kadawatha to Meerigama is to be contracted under the first phase of the Central Expressway. Section from Kadawatha to Kossinna, approximately 5 km long, is expected to be completed from the savings of third phase of the Outer Circular Highway, and its preliminary works have already been commenced. The proposal made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, to award the contract for the construction of the road section of 32.55 km from Kossinna as per the recommendations made by the Discussion Committee appointed by the Ministry of Finance according to the decision made by the Cabinet Subcommittee on Economic Affairs, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
11. Acquiring land for construction of proposed hospital complex for Nephrology, Polonnaruwa
The North Central Province is one of the worst affected areas with Chronic Kidney Disease in Sri Lanka. According to recent statistics, nearly 2500 kidney patients are followed up in renal clinic in District General Hospital, Polonnaruwa. According to a MoU signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the People's Republic of China, the People's Republic of China has agreed to construct a fully equipped hospital complex in the Polonnaruwa hospital at a cost of RMB 600 million (approximately Rs. 12,840 million).
The joint proposal made by Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine, and Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, to acquire an adjoining land of 7.27 hectares possessed by the National Aquaculture Development Authority in Polonnaruwa District and the Fresh Water Fish Hatcheries Station as the existing space in the hospital is inadequate for these constructions and to provide necessary land, financial provisions and infrastructures to relocate the said institutions, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
12. Procurement of Fertilizer - 2015 (August/Mid September delivery)
Providing fertilizers for farmers in a concessionary price under the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme is performed by Ceylon Fertilizer Company Ltd and Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Company Ltd which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture. The proposal made by Duminda Dissanayake, the Minister of Agriculture, to award the relevant contracts for the supply of fertilizer to be distributed in September according to the recommendations made by the Cabinet Appointed Standing Procurement Committee considering that no appeal has been submitted regarding the tender awarding, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
13. Installation of a Container Scanning System for Sri Lanka Customs
Sri Lanka Customs processes an average of about 1,100 import containers per day. At present, only about 10% to 15% of randomly selected containers are subjected to x-ray scanning using the department owned scanners. These scanners are about 8 years old and are subject to frequent repairs. The Minister of Finance has proposed to establish a modern Container Scanning System with the view of improving the efficiency and productivity of Sri Lanka Customs in 2015 budget proposals. The proposal made by Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, to implement the Container Scanning System through a partnership with the private sector, considering the requirement of human resources, cost of equipment and maintenance of equipment of this nature, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
