Re-establishing Fac of Agriculture and establishing Fac of Engineering, University of Jaffna

The Cabinet agreed to hand over the Ariviyal Nagar Building Complex to the University of Jaffna to re-establish the Faculty of Agriculture and establish the Faculty of Engineering, upon a proposal made by Minister of Higher Education S.B.Dissanayake.

The building consists of 17 building units including class rooms, lecture theatres, administrative blocks, auditoriums, hostels, staff quarters, and a library etc.


Stabilizing price of rice in 2011 Yala Season

A decision was taken to raise funds by milling the paddy stock of the Paddy Marketing Board in order to stabilize the price of rice during the 2011 Yala Season.

The Revolving Fund has a sum of Rs.5.5 billion for the purpose of purchasing paddy from farmers. An estimated amount of Rs.2,175 million is required for procuring of paddy.
The Cabinet granted approval to commence purchasing of paddy with immediate effect in all districts in which corps will be harvested during the Yala Season.


Annual report & accounts of People’s Bank

The performance of the People’s Bank has been impressive and the profit before tax during the year 2010 has increased by 44.5%, compared to the previous year.
While the amount of deposits has shown a sharp growth, non-performance loan ratio has decreased from 6.7% in 2009 to 5% in 2010.
The Cabinet commended the Bank performance for the year 2010 for achieving the highest ever after tax profit in its 49 year history. It also granted approval to present the Annual Report and Accounts of the People’s Bank for the year 2010 in Parliament.

Outer Circular Highway Project

On a proposal made by the President as the Minister of Ports and Highways, the Cabinet gave approval to proceed with the construction of the Outer Circular Highway (OCH) Project that has a total length of 29.1 km.

The Highway starts from Kottawa and traverses through Kaduwela and Kadawatha up to Kerawalapitiya. It connects the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway at Kerawalapitiya, the Colombo-Kandy-Expressway at Kadawatha and the Southern Expressway at Kottawa.

The highway will be constructed in three phases as following:

Kottawa-Kaduwela    - 11 km
Kaduwela-Kadawatha- 8.9 km
Kadawatha-Kerawalapitiya – 9.2 km.
IThe Colombo-Katunayake Expressway is to be completed by end of 2012 and the first two phases of the OCH is to be completed by end of 2013.

Fly-over for Veyangoda railway crossing

Veyangoda is a major town in the Gampaha District with access to the Bandaranaike International Airport and the Katunayake Free Trade Zone from various parts of the country.

The proposal made by the President to construct a fly-over across the railway line at Veyangoda in order to overcome the present difficulties encountered by the public was approved by the Cabinet.

Combined programme for tourism promotion

With a record of around US$ 500 million in foreign exchange in 2010, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry expects to attract tourists as many as 2.5 million by 2016.

The proposal made by Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa to promote Sri Lanka with a unique identity in the international market with the support of the public and the private sectors was approved by the Cabinet.

Commencement of Business at Hambantota Port

The construction work of a sea port at Hambantota on a decision made by the Government according to a proposal submitted by the President has been completed.

A Business Plan has been prepared by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to identify prospective business ventures. Proposals which were called from interested parties for the commencement of business at the Port and have been evaluated by a Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee and a Project Committee.

The proposal to award the contracts for operation of the following was approved by the Cabinet:

Sugar refinery plant
Petro-chemical plants
Fertilizer storage/processing/bagging plant