Decisions taken by the Cabinet at its Meeting held on 2012-08-08

1. Rangiri Dambulu Rajamaha Vihara sacred area to be demarcated

• The proposal made by Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, as the Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, to entrust the task of the determination of boundary and development of Rangiri Dambulla sacred area, to the Urban Development Authority was approved by the Cabinet.

2. Anuradhapura and Batticaloa hospitals declared as Teaching hospitals

• The proposal made by Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, Minister of Health, to declare the General Hospitals of Anuradhapura and Batticaloa as the teaching hospitals for the Rajarata and the Eastern Universities respectively was approved by the Cabinet
• Twenty two (22) health institutions have already been declared as End-Stations by Gazette Notification in 2011. Anuradhapura General Hospital and the Batticaloa General Hospital have been upgraded as Teaching Hospitals and they provide clinical training facilities for Medical students of the Faculties of Medicine of the University of Rajarata and the Eastern University.

3. support to SMEs in Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts Entering into an MoD with Non Governmental Organization - ACTED -

• Hon. Douglas Devananda, Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, informed the Cabinet of Ministers that the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) is to commence a new project with a funding of Rs.60 million towards Traditional Enterprise and Small and Medium Enterprise Development in selected areas of Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts. The project is to cover 4 Divisional Secretariat Divisions as follows:

o Batticaloa District - Porathivu Pattu, Manmunai South West; and
o Trincomalee District - Kuchchaveli, Padavi Sripura.

4. Commencement of a Housing Project at Ampara area for the Government Servants –

• The proposal made by Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, .Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities, to launch a programme for the construction of 100 houses for the government servants of the District of Ampara, in a block of land about 10 acres in extent, at Nawagampura, situated close to the Ampara town, was approved by the Cabinet.
• Under this project to be implemented under the Deyata Kirula Development Programme 2013, the proposed houses after construction are to be allocated to the recipients on the basis of non-recovery of the value of the land.

5. Deyata Kirula - 2013 ~ Allocations for National Development Programmes –

• On the proposal also by Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, Minister of Construction, Engineering Services and Common Amenities approval was granted to implement a Housing Project in 2013 in the Districts of Arnpara, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee and Baticaloa, in line with the Deyata Kirula National Development Programme,
• Cabinet approval was granted to implement a Housing Development Project in the said Districts, utilizing the Rs.400 million allocated to the National Housing Development Authority and the Rs.100 million allocated to the Urban Settlement Authority in the budget estimates for 2012.

6. Establishment of Diplomatic Relations with the Soloman Islands and Tuvalu –

• The proposal made by Prof G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, to establish Diplomatic Relations with both Soloman Islands and Tuvalu, was approved by the Cabinet.
• Both the Soloman Islands and Tuvalu, two Pacific Island Nations, through the Sri Lanka Mission in New York, had conveyed their interests in establishing Diplomatic Relations with Sri Lanka.
• Both these countries share common membership in several international fora with Sri Lanka that include the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) etc.

7. Registration fee of News casting Websites reduced to Rs 25,000

• The proposal made by Mr Keheliya Rambukwella, Minister of Mass Media and Information, to charge Rs.25,000/- as registration fee and Rs.10,000 /- as annual renewal fee per website with effect from January 01, 2012 was approved by the Cabinet.
• This will be applicable to all websites, including the websites which are already registered with the Ministry of Mass Media and Information.
• Earlier a proposal to amend the Sri Lanka Press Council Law of No 05 of 1973 had proposed these amount as Rs 100,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively for registration and renewal.

8. Urgent Programmes to uplift the living standards of the people in the drought hit districts

• Cabinet of Ministers at its Meeting held on 2012-07-11 had already directed the relevant authorities to formulate an urgent programme to provide relief to the people affected by the drought. Accordingly, the President. as the Minister of Finance and Planning, briefed the Cabinet of Ministers on the following progress achieved in this regard:

o Project for the Payment in Cash for the work done - under this project, members of affected families between the ages of 18 and 60 have been engaged in the renovation work pertaining to minor irrigation systems, canals and rural access roads, in their respective areas and the works are in progress. Arrangements have been made by the General Treasury to release funds for the purpose to the District Secretaries of Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Puttalam, depending on the needs.

o Provision of Drinking Water - financial provision has been provided to the relevant District Secretaries of 14 Districts by the Ministry of Disaster Management, for the purchase of water tanks and to obtain water bowsers on rental basis to provide drinking water facilities to 66,131 affected families.

o Renovation of Agricultural Wells - work pertaining to dredging and renovation of selected agricultural wells at regional level in the drought affected areas. is in progress.

o Dredging of major irrigation reservoirs so as to increase its water retention capacities –
Under this programme, dredging of Kalawewa and 126 reservoirs / tanks etc. in the vicinity, in the Anuradhapura District is in progress. In the Polonnaruwa District, dredging of Girithale Tank and 03 reservoirs in the vicinity, is in progress. Dredging of Magalla reservoir in the Kurunegala District commenced on 2012-07-27. Work pertaining to the other reservoirs in the vicinity have also commenced. The work is being attended to by the Department of Irrigation, Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka and the Department of Agrarian Development.

o Provision of relief for cultivation purposes for the Maha season 2012 / 2013 –
The requirement of seed paddy for distribution in the drought affected areas for the 2012 / 2013 Maha season is about 180,000 bushels and it is intended to allocate financial provision in a sum of'Rs, 216 million for the purpose.

• This programme is being monitored by a Presidential Task Force comprising Secretaries to the relevant Ministries and other relevant authorities, and is headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Finance Planning and a progress review on the entire programme is being conducted once in 10 days.

9.  2013 Deyata Kirula National Exhibition and Development Programme –

• Dayata Kirula- 2013 programme is to be implemented covering the four (04) Districts of Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Ampara and Batticaloa, All development projects that are being implemented and those proposed to be implemented in the above 04 ,Districts by all Ministries, Departments and other Institutions, are to be integrated under the national programme for implementation expeditiously.
• Financial provisions in the following manner will be made available for the development activities to be carried out in line with Deyata Kirula National Exhibition in the said four Districts:

o Rural and Regional' Priority Development Projects identified by the Divisional Development Committees and District Development Committees - Rs.l1,316 million.

o Ongoing Development Projects earmarked to be completed under 2012-2014 Medium Term Budgetary Framework ~ Rs.45,375-million.

o Special Development Projects proposed to be implemented in the 4 Districts, including renovations to Ampara Hardy Higher Technical Institute, development of Trincornalee Codbay Fishery Harbour etc. - Rs.2.696 million.

• These proposals made by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and planning were approved by the Cabinet.

10.  Food Aid Assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP) to Sri Lanka for 2012" –

• The World Food Programme (WFP) is to extend the duration of the existing food aid assistance under the Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) programme until 2012.
• The objective of this programme is to assist the Government in its efforts to restore the livelihood and assets of the displaced persons in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, in their re-settlement activities. The total cost of the programme is US $27,960,762.
• The programme will be implemented in Mannar, Mulativu, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi and Jaffna Districts in the Northern Province and selected areas in the Eastern Province and the estimated number of beneficiaries of this programme would be about 176,000 persons.
• The proposal made by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning, to sign the Letters of Understanding for the purpose with the World Food Programme, was approved by the Cabinet.

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