[Cabinet Decisions]

Urgent programmes to uplift living standards of people in drought - hit districts

The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on July 11, 2012 directed authorities to formulate an urgent programme to provide relief to people affected by the drought. The President. as Finance and Planning Minister, briefed the Cabinet of Ministers on the following progress achieved in this regard: 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 to the District Secretaries of Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Puttalam, depending on the needs.

Provision of drinking water - financial provision has been provided to District Secretaries of 14 districts by the Disaster Management Ministry to purchase water tanks and obtain water bowsers on a rental basis to provide drinking water facilities to 66,131 affected families. 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. Dredging of major irrigation reservoirs to increase 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 three reservoirs in the vicinity, is in progress. Dredging of Magalla reservoir in the Kurunegala district commenced on July 27, 2012. Work pertaining to the other reservoirs in the vicinity have also commenced.

The work is being attended to by the Irrigation Department, Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka and the Department of Agrarian Development.

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 of Rs 216 million.

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

Rangiri Dambulu Rajamaha Vihara sacred area to be demarcated

The proposal by Prime Minister D M Jayaratne as Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs Minister 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.

Anuradhapura, Batticaloa Hospitals declared as Teaching Hospitals

The proposal by Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena to declare Anuradhapura and Batticaloa General Hospitals as Teaching Hospitals for Rajarata and Eastern Universities was approved by the Cabinet.

Twenty two health institutions have already been declared as End-Stations by Gazette Notification in 2011. Anuradhapura General Hospital and 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.

2013 Deyata Kirula National Exhibition and Development Programme

Deyata Kirula- 2013 programme is to be implemented covering the four districts of Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Ampara and Batticaloa, All development projects being implemented and those proposed to be implemented in the four 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 four districts: Rural and Regional’ Priority Development Projects identified by the Divisional Development Committees and District Development Committees - Rs.l1,316 million.

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

Special Development Projects proposed to be implemented in the four districts including renovations to Ampara Hardy Higher Technical Institute, development of Trincomalee Codbay Fishery Harbour etc - Rs.2.696 million. The proposals made by the President, in his capacity as the Finance and Planning Minister were approved by the Cabinet.

Support to SMEs in Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts entering into an MoD with ACTED

Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda informed Cabinet 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 four Divisional Secretariat Divisions as follows: Batticaloa district - Porathivu Pattu, Manmunai South West; and Trincomalee district - Kuchchaveli, Padavi Sripura.

Commencement of housing project at Ampara for government servants

The proposal by Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa to launch a programme for the construction of 100 houses for government servants of Ampara district in a block of land about 10 acres in extent at Nawagampura close to 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.

Deyata Kirula - 2013 ~ allocations for National Development Programmes

On a proposal by Construction, Engineering Services and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa, approval was granted to implement a housing project in 2013 in Amnpara, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts in line with the Deyata Kirula National Development Programme.

Cabinet approval was granted to implement a Housing Development Project in the districts, utilising the Rs 400 million allocated to the National Housing Development Authority and the Rs100 million allocated to the Urban Settlement Authority in the budget estimates for 2012.

Food aid assistance from World Food Programme 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, Mullaitivu, 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 Finance and Planning Minister to sign the Letters of Understanding with the World Food Programme, was approved by the Cabinet.

Establishment of diplomatic relations with the Soloman Islands and Tuvalu

The proposal by External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris to establish diplomatic relations with 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.