Decisions taken by the Cabinet at its Meeting held on 18.07.2012

01  Feasibility study on the northern expressway to be launched

•   Cabinet of Ministers granted its approval for the proposal made by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Ports and Highways to carry out Feasibility Studies, Environmental Impact Assessment and Preparation of Documents to Invite Expression of Interest and Requests for Proposals for Phase 1 of the Proposed Northern Expressway

•   Accordingly, the contract for the consultancy services to carry out feasibility studies for the phase 1 of this project is to be awarded to SMEC International pty Ltd, Australia through direct contracting method.

•    This is one of the six expressways identified for implementation in the National Road Master Plan 2007-2017. The tentative corridor for phase 1 of the expressway has been identified and is

proposed to be implemented in three stages as follows:

o    Stage I - total length of Stage I is 42.5 Km. and interchanges are proposed to be constructed at Enderamulla, Gampaha, Veyangoda and Mirigama.
o    Stage II - total length of Stage II is 35 Km. and interchanges are proposed to be constructed at Pothupitiya, Dampalassa and Pellandeniya.
o    Stage III - total length of Stage III is 44 km. and interchanges are proposed to be constructed at' Pothupitiya, Polgahawela, Rambukkana and Hedeniya.

02  Visa Fees for Foreign Scholarship Students  waived

•    Cabinet approval has already been granted to implement the 100 scholarships scheme by the Ministry of Higher Education for foreign students in 48 identified countries, from the year 2012 onwards.

•    On a proposal made by Mr. S.B. Dissanayake, Minister of Higher Education, Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to waive the visa fees for scholarship recipients from the SAARC countries and to charge only 50 percent of the visa fees for scholarship recipients of other countries

03  Formal DPL ties to be established with Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)

•    The proposal made by Prof G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, for the establishment of Diplomatic Relations with the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), was approved by the Cabinet of ministers.
•    Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had highlighted Sri Lanka’s interest for close co-operation with the Republic of Congo, a country  in western Africa, bordering the south Atlantic ocean upon its independence in 1960 to strengthen the relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries in the political, economic and cultural fields, was approved by the Cabinet
•    The joint communiqué on the establishment of formal Diplomatic Relation with Republic of Congo was signed on February 01.
.

04  National Coordinating Committee on Re-admission of repatriates to be established

•    Sri Lanka has entered into several bilateral arrangements with a number of countries to regulate the repatriation of asylum seekers and persons of Sri Lankan nationality who are residing in those countries without authorization.
•    The Agreement on Re-admission of persons residing without authorization signed with the European Community is one such Agreement.
•    The International Organization for Migration (10M) is supporting the Government of Sri Lanka for the effective implementation of the Re-admission Agreement under the EU Funded Project titled "Support to the Governments of Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the implementation of Re-admission Agreements with the European Community".
•    The proposal made by Prof G.1. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, for the formal establishment of the National Coordinating Committee on Re-admission (NCCR), to guide and negotiate future Re-admission Agreements with other countries and to attend to matters connected thereto, was approved by the Cabinet.

05  MoU with the Republic of Korea for sending workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS) –

•    The proposal made by  Dilan Perera, Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, to enter into a MoU with the Republic of Korea for sending workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS) with the Republic of Korea, to enhance the existing friendly relations between the two countries through cooperation in the fields of employment and labour affairs and human capacity building, was approved by the Cabinet.

06 Rs 2363 M for Maha Oya – Aralaganwila Road  development –

•    The proposal made by the President, as the Minister of Ports and Highways, to carry out improvements and rehabilitation of Maha Oya - Aralaganwila road, having a length of 24 km. was approved by the Cabinet.

•    This will be in addition to the list of 692.09 km of roads already approved by the Cabinet for rehabilitation under the program of Rehabilitation of National Highways with Concrete Surfacing through Domestic Contractors above programme,
•    Accordingly, this contract of the development of Maha Oya – Aralaganwila Road will be awarded to  Sierra Construction (Pvt ) Ltd at the negotiated contract price of Rs.2,363,892,396.05, with loan facilities from Bank of Ceylon, was approved by the Cabinet.

07  Three bridges to be constructed on Moragahakanda – Wellawela road.

•    The proposal made by Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, to award the Contract for Design & Construction of 01 Bridge and Construction of 02 Bridges on the Wellawela Road under Kaluganga Left Bank Development to the State Development and Construction Corporation (SD & CC)  was approved by the Cabinet.

•    A sum of Rs.99.5 million, funds allocated for the Kaluganga Development Project, will be utililsed for this project

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