1.Cabinet has reviewed the situation regarding admission in confessional schools following the recent judgement of the Supreme Court on the 50% reserved seats and has taken note of the proposals made by Government to the Catholic Authorities. Cabinet has also agreed that the representatives of Government and BEC would meet immediately after the judgement of the Supreme Court on the leave applied for by the BEC to go to the Privy Council and on the Stay Order of execution of the judgement of the Supreme Court.
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2.Cabinet has reviewed the ongoing reforms which are being carried out at the Customs and Excise Department and fully supports the management in its initiatives.
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3.Cabinet has taken note that the Minister of Women’s Rights, Child Development & Family Welfare will make the Child Protection (Foster Care) Regulations inter alia to enable the Foster Care System to become operational, and to provide for the close monitoring of all cases of placements of children in foster homes until such time as the placement is terminated.
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4.Cabinet has taken note that the African Development Bank proposes to conduct a study on Poverty, Gender and Social Exclusion in Mauritius, with a view to assisting Government and donor agencies in the formulation of appropriate country strategies and projects likely to improve the standard of living in Mauritius.
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5.Cabinet has taken note of the report of a technical team of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping on the implementation programme for the rehabilitation of the Mauritius Institute Building at Port Louis, which will house the National Assembly. The implementation period of the project is 12 months.
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6.Cabinet has taken note that the Mauritius Football Association has agreed to conduct elections in the 13 regions in accordance of the provisions of the Sports Act and the Agreement reached between MFA and the Ministry of Youth and Sports following the recommendations of the “Comité des Sages”. The Electoral Commissioner will supervise the elections throughout.
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7.Cabinet has taken note that following complaints received from inhabitants of Goodlands to the effect that they had suffered skin burning while walking on one of the lots in Morcellement St. Antoine, the Ministry of Environment has made arrangements for the analysis of the soil and to maintain security services so as to prevent access to public there.
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8.Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius acceding to the Advisory Centre on WTO Law, which provides legal counseling on WTO law matters to developing countries and economies-in-transition and all least developed countries.
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9.Cabinet has taken note of the status of the project to rehabilitate the Nicolière Feeder Canal, which is an important component of the Midlands Dam Project.
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10.Cabinet has agreed to the Ministry of Environment introducing measures to ban the import and manufacture of plastic carry bags of thickness of less than 80 microns, currently known as 'sacs 50 sous’ and 'sacs Re 1.00’, which are not biodegradable and therefore represent a visible and persistent component of litter and pose environmental problems. Producers and traders of plastic bags will be given a moratorium of one year to adjust and organise themselves.
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11.Cabinet has agreed to the introduction into the National Assembly of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill which inter alia provides for new and more severe penalties for offences relating to the use of motor vehicles without the appropriate motor vehicle licence or in breach of such licence and for the compulsory issue of an insurance vignette by insurers and its display on every motor vehicle.
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12.In view of the appalling food situation that threatens more than 14 million people in certain African countries, Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius making a contribution to support those countries to help avert a humanitarian disaster.
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13.Cabinet has taken note of the status of the On-Line Lottery Project.
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14.Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the missions of –
(i) the Minister of Labour & Industrial Relations to Dubai and Abu Dhabi from 28 October to 1 November where he had discussions on bilateral agreements;
(ii) the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation to –
(a) Mozambique from 7 to 8 November where he attended the 5th SADC/EU Joint Ministerial Conference;
(b) Nigeria on 3 November where he attended the 5th Meeting of NEPAD Heads of States and Government Implementation Committee;
(iii) the Minister of Economic Development, Financial Services and Corporate Affairs to Seoul, Korea from 10 to 12 November, where he participated in the 2nd Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies; and
(iv) the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice & Human Right to Canada from 4 to 6 November, where he participated in the 24th Annual Parliamentary Assembly of the Parliamentarians for Global Action.
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15.Cabinet has taken note of the appointment of Internet Management Committee, under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Home Affairs.
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