1.Cabinet has reviewed the situation after the passage of Cyclone Gerry on 13 February 2003 and noted that there was no major damage caused except that a few cases of flooding had been reported. As at this morning, 75 families were still in Refugee Centres and about 1000 faults in telephone connections had been reported. Moreover, 1500 households were deprived of electricity. Arrangements had been made to restore electricity and to connect the telephone lines by this afternoon. The rainfall had been beneficial to our reservoirs.
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2.Cabinet has taken note of the circumstances in which a Mauritian student had lost his life in St. Petersburg and has decided to set up a Committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to look into and make recommendations on how best the conditions in which Mauritians are studying in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Ukraine, could be improved.
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3.Cabinet has taken note of the first draft capital and recurrent estimates of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly for the period 1 October 2002 to 20 June 2003. The draft estimates has been prepared on the basis of funds amounting to Rs 479m (recurrent) and Rs 313.7m (capital) remaining under the Vote of the former Rodrigues Administration.
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4.Cabinet has agreed to the upgrading and refurbishing of the ex-CHA Complex in Rose Hill which will accommodate the Commission Médicale of the Comité Organisateur des Jeux des Iles.
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5.Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius signing the Agreement establishing the Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation as an Inter-Governmental Organisation and to Mauritius becoming a member thereof.
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6.Cabinet has agreed to the National Monument Act and the National Heritage Trust Fund Act being merged to allow only one body to cater for the classification, preservation, protection and management of historical and national heritage sites, buildings and structures.
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7.Cabinet had taken note of the status in the implementation of the Anti-Erosion Programme in Rodrigues.
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8.Cabinet has taken note that the Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de L'Océan Indien and the Commission de L'Océan Indien will enter into an agreement to enhance cooperation between them with a view to creating a synergy for the judicious use of their respective competencies, knowledge and experience in furthering their objectives.
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9.Cabinet has taken note that the following workshops/meetings will be held in Mauritius:
(a) the 22nd Programme Steering Committee and the Second HIV/AIDS Expert Committee Meetings of the Commonwealth Health Regional Community in March 2003. The function of the Committees is to provide technical guidance to programme activities;
(b) a regional Conference on Information Society from 3 to 5 April. The chief guest to the Conference will be Mr Chandra Babu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andra Pradesh. The themes to be discussed include inter alia -
- the challenge of the Information Society in Africa;
- e-Readiness of Africa;
- e-Government in Africa; and
(c) the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Workshop on the preparation of the Second National Communication from 8 to 11 April. The aim of the workshop is to provide technical advice in the use of the new guidelines adopted at COP 8 in New Delhi, India.
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10.Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of missions of -
(a) the Minister of Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources to Guyana and Brazil from 4 to 8 February in the context of the challenge of the EU Sugar Regime;
(b) the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation to Addis Ababa from 1 to 4 February where he attended the Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council and the Extraordinary Summit of the African Union;
(c) the Minister of Health and Quality of Life to -
- South Africa from 20 to 21 January where he attended the SADC Sectoral Ministerial Meeting on Nutrition and HIV/AIDS; and
- Geneva from 29 to 31 January, where he attended the Board Meeting of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
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