1.Cabinet has agreed to the introduction into the National Assembly of the Courts (Amendment) Bill 1999. The object of this Bill is to make provision for the recording of evidence and proceedings in our Courts by tape or other technological means.
________________________________________
2.Cabinet has agreed to the pupils of primary schools in Rodrigues being given bread with butter, cheese or jam daily, instead of packed milk as for Mauritius, under the Primary School Feeding Project. This Scheme will be operational as from next month.
________________________________________
3.Government has agreed to the implementation of six new projects in the context of Phase I of the Ten Year Fisheries Development Plan. These projects aim, among other things, at establishing a Planning and Management Unit, carrying out a Fishery Monitoring and Stock assessment exercise in Rodrigues, and study the effects of pesticides in the marine environment.
________________________________________
4.Cabinet has agreed to the submission of the UNFPA Country Programme relating to the Reproductive Health Sub-Programme for Mauritius for 1999-2002, to the UNFPA Headquarters for approval and its subsequent implementation. This programme will help Government in its effort to improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young people in the age group of 10 to 24 as well as women in need of family planning services both in Mauritius and in Rodrigues.
________________________________________
5.Government has acceded to the request of Beau Plan Milling Company to the closure of Beau Plan Sugar Factory with effect from the end of the 1998 Crop, as a result of the prolonged drought affecting sugar cane cultivations.
All the canes from the factory area of Beau Plan will be transferred to Belle Vue Sugar Factory.
The closure of Beau Plan Sugar Factory is in line with the policy laid down in the Blue Print for Centralisation of Sugar Milling activities in Mauritius with a view to improve milling efficiency, enhance the competitiveness and promote the establishment of power plants for the production of electricity from Bagasse.
The redundant workers of Beau Plan will be offered the option of either an alternative employment at Belle Vue or a compensation in cash and kind.
________________________________________
6.Cabinet has agreed to the holding of a Millenium Show on 31 December, 1999 to mark the advent of the Third Millenium. The Ministry of Arts and Culture is looking into the organisational aspects of the show.
________________________________________
7.Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius hosting a sub-regional meeting to be organised by the international Labour Organisation on "Les Techniques de gestion de la Sécurité Sociale" in October, 1999.
________________________________________
8.Cabinet has been apprised of the outcome of the First Indian Ocean Port State Control Committee held in Goa, India, in January, 1999.
Cabinet also agreed to -
(a) Mauritius ratifying the Memorandum of Understanding in Port State Control for the Indian Ocean Region; and
(b) Mauritius hosting the Second Meeting of the Committee from 1 to 6 December, 1999.
________________________________________
9.Cabinet has been apprised of the proposal of the Ministry of Social Security and National Solidarity to promulgate new regulations with a view to setting the minimum and maximum salaries on which contributions are payable to the National Pensions Fund and the National Savings Fund, taking into account the increase in wages over the last two years.