1. Cabinet has taken note of the ongoing registration exercise for admission to Form I in 2003 and of the importance for all parents to fill in the application form on 21 September 2002 so that a seat could be allocated to their ward in a secondary school of their zone by the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate. Cabinet has also taken note of the status of the construction of secondary schools as well as of contingency arrangements to be made, where necessary, for the temporary accommodation of students in a nearby school during the 1st term of 2003.
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2. Cabinet has agreed to the preparation of a legislation to regulate the operation of residential care homes/charitable institutions with a view to imposing a standard of care and service to inmates.
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3. Cabinet has agreed to the ratification of ILO Convention No. 137 on Dock Work which concerns the social repercussions, including the conditions of work and standards of living of dock workers, consequent to the introduction of new and more efficient methods of cargo handling in the docks.
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4. Cabinet has agreed to the introduction into the National Assembly of :-
(i) the Postal Services Bill which provides for the establishment of a regulatory authority for the postal, courier and ancillary services sector with a view to enhancing the systems and methods of operation in the sector and, where warranted, for appropriate offences and penalties; and
(i) the Post Office (Transfer of Undertaking) Bill which provides for the transfer of assets, rights, interests and liabilities of the Post Office Department to the Mauritius Post Ltd, a Government-owned company.
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5. Cabinet has taken note that eight new projects have been approved by the Board of Investment in August and September 2002. These projects, which are in the Industrial Sector, ICT Sector and Hotel and Tourism Sector, are expected to generate investment to the tune of Rs 767m, with Foreign Direct Investment of about Rs 334m, and create about 433 new jobs.
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6. Cabinet has taken note that the Commonwealth Sciences Council and the World Association of Industrial and Technology Research Organisation, in collaboration with the Small and Medium Industries Development Organisation, will organize a Workshop on Technology-Based Incubators for the benefit of SADC countries. The Workshop which will be held in Mauritius in February 2003, aims inter alia at examining the importance of business incubators in economic development and at sharing experiences of countries where incubators have been successfully implemented.
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7. Cabinet has taken note of the various activities organised in Mauritius and Rodrigues by the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity & Senior Citizen Welfare and Reform Institutions to mark the International Day for the Elderly on 1 October 2002.
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8. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the missions of:-
(i) the Minister of Tourism to South Africa from 26 August to 2 September 2002, where he attended the World Tourism Organisation Conference on “Tourism and its contribution to Poverty Alleviation”;
(ii) the Minister of Civil Service Affairs and Administrative Reforms to UK from 8 to 11 September 2002, where he participated in the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management Biennial Conference;
(iii) the Minister of Labour & Industrial Relations to South Africa from 13 to 15 September 2002, where he attended the Sixth Islamic Cultural Symposium on 'Islam in Africa’; and
(iv) the Minister of Health and Quality of Life to South Africa in August 2002, where he attended the SADC Extraordinary Health Ministers’ Meeting, a Symposium on Health and Sustainable Development and the WHO event on the Promotion of Healthier Environment for Children.
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9. Cabinet has taken note that a team from the Paediatric Cardiac Surgery of the Chain of Hope based in the UK, a non-profit making humanitarian organization, visited Mauritius from 7 to 14 September 2002. The team examined 115 children and successfully operated upon 11 paediatric cases. Nine children had cardiac catheterisation.
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10. Cabinet has taken note of major projects, programmes and activities in the Health Sector carried out during the past two years. Cabinet has also taken note that the Action Plan on the Health Sector Development and Reform is under preparation and will be examined shortly.