Cabinet Decisions taken on 23 December 2004

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2. Cabinet has reviewed the situation regarding the school year 2005 and has taken note that about 95% of pupils who have passed the CPE Examinations have registered for admission to Form I to a secondary school. Further, arrangement has been made by the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research to consider requests for transfers as from next week.

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3. Cabinet has reviewed the situation regarding the payment of basic retirement pension and has agreed that in order not to penalize any beneficiary, the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Senior Citizen Welfare & Reform Institutions would effect payment before the end of December 2004, in respect of all persons who have wrongly filled in their declaration forms. Action will subsequently be taken to ensure that the correct data is entered on the declaration forms.

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4. Cabinet has taken note of representations made by the Mauritius Bankers Association Ltd (MBA) in a letter dated 21 December 2004 addressed to the Prime Minister on the recommendations of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Sale by Levy and has agreed to the setting up of an Implementation Committee chaired by the Secretary to Cabinet and comprising representatives of –

to oversee the implementation of the recommendations. The Committee will also consider the comments made by the MBA. Further the Prime Minister will meet representatives of the victims of Sale by Levy on Monday 27 December 2004.

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5. Cabinet has reviewed the programme of road improvement and has agreed to the Road Development Authority contracting a loan of Rs 500M from Banking/Financing Institutions. This amount will be used in connection with :

(a) additional costs required for the realignment of part of the road under the South Eastern Highway Project;

(b) resurfacing sections of the motorway from Plaine Magnien to Caudan Roundabout in the context of the SIDS Meeting; and

(c) other urgent road works.

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6. Cabinet has taken note that Hon. J. Cuttaree will be the only candidate from the ACP and the African continent to stand for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation and in that connection, a Campaign Committee will be set up under his chair.

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7. Cabinet has taken note that the Prime Minister will chair a Committee comprising the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Regional Coorporation, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection and the Ministry of Industry and Medium Enterprises, Financial Services and Corporate Affairs to ensure that full use is made of the available cap amounting to some 27M sq metre equivalent under the Third Country Fabric derogation for Mauritius.

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8. Cabinet has reviewed the EU Sugar Regime Reform proposals and has noted the positive analysis made by the European Economic and Social Committee, the thrust of which is in line with that of the ACP, with regard inter alia to the date of entry into force of the new sugar regime in 2006, the price cut to be limited to a maximum of 20% and preferential quota to be negotiated with LDCs.

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9. Cabinet has taken note of the risk of a shortage of frozen fish on the market in January and February 2005 and had initially considered, as an exceptional measure, to authorize net fishing as from January 2005. However, in view of the existing legal provisions which prohibits large/gill net fishing from 1 October to the last day of February, other measures are being considered to make up for the expected shortfall.

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10. Cabinet has agreed that with effect from 31 December 2004, a fee Rs 50 instead of Rs 100 will be claimed for the delivery of a duplicate identity card to persons aged 60 and above in case of loss of their cards.

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11. Cabinet has taken note that the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life in collaboration with the University of Montpellier will mount postgraduate training courses leading to an “Attestation de Formation Spécialisée” (AFS) in the field of general surgery to be spread over a period of five years. The first two years’ training will be conducted in Mauritius and the final three years at the “Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Monpellier” in France.

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12. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the visits effected during the month of November and December 2004 by three foreign medical teams led by Prof Terhost, Dr A. Kalangos and Prof P. Dewan respectively to perform surgery on complex urology and cardiac cases. They have examined about 200 patients and have performed a total of 73 operations.

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13. Cabinet has taken note of the setting-up of a committee under the chair of ICTA and comprising representatives of all stakeholders concerned to work on the introduction of National ICT Awards as from January 2005 to grant recognition to ICT achievers and to stimulate innovation and creativity in the Information Technology and Communication Sectors.

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14. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal under the chair of Mr Abdool Rashid Hossen.

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15. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the missions of –

(i) the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Regional Corporation to Lusaka, Zambia from 29 November to 8 December 2004 where he participated in the Council of Ministers` Meeting of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA);

(ii) the Minister of Tourism and Leisure to the Middle East from 3 to 9 December 2004, where he participated in road shows to promote Mauritius as a tourist destination; and

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