1. Cabinet has agreed to the Constitution (Amendment) Bill and the Local Government Bill being debated in the National Assembly at its sitting on Tuesday 1 July 2003. The Local Government Bill aims at modernising and consolidating the law relating to Local Government whereas the Constitution (Amendment) Bill empowers the Ombudsman to enquire into cases of maladministration by Local Authorities.
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2. Cabinet has taken note that a Government/Private Sector/EPZ Meeting will be held on Saturday 5 July at Domaine Les Pailles.
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3. Cabinet has taken note that at a meeting held on 26 June, under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, it had been decided that, as from to-day, the Prohibition Notice on Samlo Koyenco Steel Co. Ltd. would be lifted on certain conditions, including the following -
(a) the factory should maintain proper registers of production, stock and sales, which should be made available to any authorised officer for inspection;
(b) the casts produced should be kept in secured bundles and labelled with gloss paint; and
(c) samples of steel bars produced should be tested until the “Mauricert” Certificate mark is obtained.
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4. Cabinet has taken note that the WHO has removed Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Toronto from the list of SARS-affected countries and that Air Mauritius will resume services to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur as from 2 August 2003. The Ministry of Health and Quality of Life will, however, continue implementing the preventive and precautionary measures both at the Port and the Airport until that date.
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5. Cabinet has taken note of the Programme of Visit of the Hon Mr Yashwant Sinha, Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, from 1 to 3 July 2003.
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6. Cabinet has taken note that a Tripartite Committee has been set up with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour & Industrial Relations as Chairperson to review the Industrial Relations Act and make recommendations
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7. Cabinet has taken note that, in the context of the organisation of the International Meeting on the Review of the Barbados Programme of Action of the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the State Investment Corporation (SIC) will put up a polyvalent hall at Domaine Les Pailles. The SIC has launched invitations to local firms, with or without foreign partners, to express their intentions to Design, Build and Commission the project.
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8. Cabinet has taken note that, with the proclamation of The Tourism Act 2002 on 1 July 2003, the Tourism Authority which operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure, will be responsible for the issue/renewal of licences of tourist enterprises.
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9. Cabinet has taken note that Professor J. Beylot from the University of Bordeaux II will visit Mauritius during the week-end to review the status of the various health projects benefiting from assistance under the French Technical Cooperation Programme.
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10. Cabinet has taken note that following the proposal of Mauritius for the payment of compensation to all ACP countries whose trade in Tuna will suffer as a result of the implementation of the WTO mediator’s proposal in favour of Thailand and Philippines, Dr Wang, Consultant of the Commonwealth Secretariat carried out a Trade Impact Assessment Study on canned tuna in Mauritius and Seychelles and submitted her report to the Secretariat. Our missions in Brussels and London are following up closely on the matter.
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11. Cabinet has taken note that fishing vessels effect transhipment of toothfish in the high seas outside our EEZ and come to Port Louis for bunkering purposes. Cabinet has decided that the Ministry of Fisheries should closely monitor the movement of such fishing vessels and initiate appropriate action against all vessels coming to the Port and involved in illegal fishing of toothfish.
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12. Cabinet has reviewed the situation in Comoros and decided that Government should establish contacts with both the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa with a view to requesting them to convene a meeting with Colonel Azali, President of the Islamic Republic of Comoros during the AU Summit to be held in Maputo in July next where the Prime Minister will also be present, to press upon him to take measures leading to the holding of elections shortly.
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13. Cabinet has taken note that a meeting of Heads of National Drugs Law Enforcement Agencies of Africa, organised by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, will be held in Mauritius from 8 to 12 September 2003.
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14. Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius adhering to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) which is an inter-governmental organisation set up in 1961 to ensure that Member States acknowledge the achievements of breeders of new plant varieties by making available to them an exclusive property right on the basis of well-defined criteria.
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15. Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius accepting the 1991 amendments to the Convention on the International Maritime Organisation which aim at giving effect to the institutionalisation of the Facilitation Committee as a fully-fledged organ of the IMO.
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16. Cabinet has taken note that a final permission will be given to R.F. Gandhi A.K. Trust to operate a private Dental College in Mauritius.
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17. Following the recommendation of Consultants of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre who visited Mauritius recently, Cabinet has agreed to the submission of a proposal to the UNESCO to include the Aapravasi Ghat and Le Morne Mountain on the tentative list of Mauritian sites suitable for inclusion in the World Heritage List.
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18. Cabinet has taken note that the Board of Investment has approved seven new projects during the period 20 May and 24 June. The project which are in the Hotel and Leisure Sector, the Industrial Sector and the ICT Sector, will necessitate a total investment of around Rs 2,054,5m with Foreign Direct Investment of about Rs 13.9m and create 709 new jobs.
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19. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of -
(a) the Tobacco Board under the chairmanship of Mr A.L. Jadoo; and
(b) the Board of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority under the chairmanship of Mr Guy Hugnin.
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20. Cabinet has taken note of developments in the rehousing of squatters at Camp La Colle, Tamarin. The project comprises the construction of 43 houses on a cost-sharing basis. The ?Forces Vives’ of the locality has agreed to organise themselves into a charitable institution to raise funds with a view to assisting the families in the repayment of loans.
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21. Cabinet has taken note that a new comprehensive regulatory regime on port and ship security adopted by the International Maritime Organisation will come into force on 1 July 2004, and of measures being put up by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping in collaboration with stakeholders, to comply with the new regime.
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22. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the mission of -
(a) the Minister of Labour & Industrial Relations to Geneva where he attended the 91st Session of the International Labour Conference held from 3 to 19 June;
(b) the Minister of Arts and Culture to Suriname where he participated in the Seventh World Hindi Conference held from 5 to 9 June; and
(c) the Minister of Youth and Sports to Botswana where he attended the Fifth Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting held from 28 to 30 May.
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23. Cabinet has taken note that Dr V.H.Wiium, an Icelandic Consultant, will assist Government in the preparation of a position paper including strategies for negotiating the Fifth Protocol of the Fisheries Agreement between Mauritius and the EU.
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24. Cabinet has taken note of the Report of the Committee set up to look into the management of the new Exhibition Hall cum Monument to be put up at the Millennium Monument site at Wooton.
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25. The Cabinet has taken note of the organisation of the second edition of the “Jeux des Jeunes” on 24 and 25 July 2003.
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