1. Cabinet has approved a major air traffic control project to equip the Civil Aviation Department with a high-tech satellite-based Area Control and Flight Information System. This system will enable the Civil Aviation Department to provide air traffic and navigational services within the entire Flight Information Region allocated to Mauritius by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The implementation of this project is in line with the Government policy to modernise all the country's strategic infrastructures and to position Mauritius as a regional air traffic hub.
2. Cabinet has been apprised of the outcome of the mission of the Deputy Prime Minister to the meeting of the countries of the region under the aegis of the OAU held on Tuesday 4 May 1999, in Maputo, Mozambique to review the situation in the Comoros. This meeting was being organised following the Antananarivo agreement and the Coup d'Etat which took place in Comoros on 30 April, 1999. Mauritius has joined with other participating countries in categorically condemning the Coup d'Etat in Comoros and calling for the immediate restoration of constitutional order.
3. Cabinet has approved a scheme proposed by the Ministry of Telecommunication & Information Technology to enable young graduates and diploma holders to acquire skills in information technology with a view to facilitating the start of their professional career. Under this scheme, some 25 graduates and 10 diploma holders will be recruited and posted in the Ministry of Telecommunication & Information Technology, the National Computer Board, the Central Informatics Bureau, the Central Information Systems Division, State Informatics Ltd, and SITRAC Ltd. Further details of the scheme will soon be published in the Press.
4 . Cabinet has agreed to the introduction into the National Assembly of the Building (Amendment) Bill. The object of the Bill is to make it mandatory for buildings of 250 sq metres or more to be designed by licensed architects. The Bill will also provide for major public buildings to be constructed in accordance with necessary safety norms and having easy access for disabled persons and parking facilities.
5. Cabinet has examined a Draft Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill which enable the fitness examination of vehicles to be carried out by private authorised parties. In that context, regulations will be made for the strict control of smoke-emission by vehicles.
6. Cabinet has considered a proposal of the Mon Loisir Sugar Estate to implement a project which involves the phasing out of all its housing camps. Some 300 families living in the camps will be resettled at various sites.
7. Cabinet has approved the grant of -
(i) 1 Export Enterprise Certificate;
(ii) 1 Pioneer Status Enterprise Certificate; and
(iii) 1 Modernisation and Expansion Enterprise Certificate, under the Industrial Expansion Act 1993, and involves a total investment of Rs 60M and the creation of employment opportunities for some 224 persons.
8. Cabinet has taken note of the proposals for the upgrading and operation of Plaine Corail Airport by Airports of Mauritius Ltd with a view to accelerate development and create jobs in Rodrigues.A Ministerial Committee has been set up to study the proposals and issues involved in that connection and make recommendations accordingly.
9. Cabinet has agreed that the loan scheme enabling artisanal fishermen to purchase boats and accessories for off-lagoon fishing being extended up to
31 December 1999. This scheme is operated through the Development Bank of Mauritius.
10. Cabinet has decided that Mauritius will sign the Convention to become a full Member of the Regional African Satellite Organisation (RASCOM). Mauritius Telecom which has been designated to sign the Operating Agreement, will make an investment of US $200,000 in the Organisation. RASCOM, which comprises 43 African States and their national telecommunications operators, aims at improving interconnectivity within the African Continent for the fostering of socio-economic, cultural and financial development of Africa. RASCOM has approved a US $150 million BOT project for the manufacture, placing into orbit, and commissioning of a telecommunications satellite dedicated to the specific needs for African continent.
11. Cabinet has agreed, in principle, to members of staff employed by the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund and presently on secondment to the Ministry of Women, Family Welfare & Child Development being integrated on the establishment of the National Women Council.
12. Cabinet has agreed to the request of a Dutch Team led by ProfessorMrs Carmel Schire of the State University of New Jersey to carry out for a second time archaelogical research work on the remains of the Dutch Fort at the historic site of Vieux Grand Port. Mauritian students and scholars of the University of Mauritius will be invited to participate in the research work.
13. Cabinet has been apprised of -
(i)the outcome of the participation by the Minister of Finance -
(a)in the First Conference of Ministers of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Francophone Group held in Monaco on 14 and 15 April, preceded by a high level meeting of technical experts on 13 April; and
(b)his mission in Paris to attend a conference held by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD);
(ii) the outcome of the ACP lobbying mission which the Minister of Agriculture, Food Technology & Natural Resources led last week in his capacity as the ACP Ministerial Spokesman on Sugar to Helsinki, Copenhagen, Luxemburg and Bonn;
(iii) the reconstitution of the Board of Management of the Public Officers' Welfare Council for the period 1999-2000 under the Chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Civil Service Affairs and Administrative Reform; and
(iv) the reconstitution of the National Savings Fund Technical Committee with Mr Sookdeo Ramburuth as its Chairman.