1. Cabinet has agreed to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport & Shipping requesting the Consultants of the Terre Rouge-Verdun Link Road Project to carry out the Design Review Report which would include costing, economic evaluation and environment assessment on the basis of a new alignment proposed by the Bureau Central Etude Outre-Mer (BCEOM). In view of the high cost of the original alignment, i.e., Malenga-Crève Coeur Road, and the difficult site conditions, BCEOM had recommended that the project be reviewed with a view to providing for future developments in the regions of Moka and Ebène and linking the North to the East and Plaines Wilhems, thus relieving traffic on the Motorways M1 and M2 between Phoenix and Terre Rouge. The new alignment would connect Terre Rouge to Verdun through Ripailles, and in the future to the new interchange at Trianon and eventually with B6 Road at Quartier Militaire.
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2.Cabinet has taken note of problems encountered by owners of lorries of over 20 years and agreed to consideration being given for the setting up of a Special Unit at the National Transport Authority for the examination of those vehicles and SICOM providing insurance covers.
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3.Cabinet has taken note of problems faced by the squatters in Rose Hill and of action taken to relocate them as early as possible.
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4.Cabinet has taken note of the tragic accident where five Mauritian nationals lost their lives in a house fire in West London, and that the Police investigation had yet to be completed to determine the cause of the fire. Our Mission in London is providing all possible assistance to the relatives of the deceased and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Cooperation is following up on the matter.
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5.Cabinet has agreed to the involvement of the Ministry of Public Utilities in the implementation of a United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF) co-financed project entitled "Removal of Barriers to Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation in Buildings in Mauritius". The overall objective of the project is to implement priority measures to remove barriers to energy efficiency and energy conservation in buildings and to reinforce the development of a market approach to improving residential and non-residential building energy efficiency in both existing and future buildings.
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6.Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the "Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de L'Océan Indien" (CJSOI) held in Mauritius on 14 December 2005 to discuss the participation of Mayotte in the CJSOI Games. The Meeting has agreed to the participation of Mayotte as a separate entity in the Games and other activities of the CJSOI.
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7. Cabinet has taken note of the performance of the Mauritian athletes at the fifth "Jeux de la Francophonie" held in Niamey, Niger from 7 to 17 December 2005.
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8. Cabinet has agreed to the plot of land at Edith Cavell Street, Port Louis, presently occupied by the Ministry of Education & Human Resources, being vested into the Judiciary for the construction of the new Supreme Court Building, and the land and building opposite the Supreme Court housing the Old Port Louis District Courts being vested into the Attorney General's Office to accommodate the Human Rights Centre and the Africa Court of Justice.
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9. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the missions of –
(i) the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance & Economic Development to Seychelles from 12 to 14 December, 2005 where he participated in the Seventh Session of the Seychelles – Mauritius Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (CBC) which covered a wide range of issues and exchanges between the two countries for the next two years, inter alia the widening of the scope of collaboration beyond the capacity building dimension and new avenues of collaboration in areas such as ICT, Seafood Hub, promotion of intra-regional tourism and exchanges in the field of financial services;
(ii) the delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Cooperation and comprising inter alia the Minister of Agro Industry & Fisheries and the Minister of Industry, Small & Medium Enterprises, Commerce & Cooperatives to Hong Kong from 13 to 18 December 2005 where they attended the 6th WTO Ministerial Conference. Some positive elements for Mauritius in the Ministerial Declaration are -
(a) the concept of Small Economies has been reinforced and the issue has now proliferated in other key areas of negotiations, namely agriculture, non-agricultural market access and services;
(b) Mauritius will be exempted from making tariff reduction commitments on manufactured products in the Doha Round of Negotiations. This will give Government some latitude to protect its domestic industries and mitigate the loss of Government revenue through tariff policies; and
(c) Mauritius can take advantage of the Aid for Trade Project to build its supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure; and
(iii) the Minister of Environment and National Development Unit to Montreal, Canada from 28 November to 9 December 2005, where he participated in the Eleventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Conventon on Climate Change and the First Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Decisions relating to the Kyoto Protocol were adopted and various methodological, administrative, and institutional matters were also considered and relevant decisions taken.
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10. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of -
(i) the National Road Safety Council with Mr Muhammad Yussuf Eshack Abdullatiff as Chairperson;
(ii) the Road Transport Advisory Board with Dr Aman Kumar Maulloo as Chairperson;
(iii) the Construction Industry Development Board with Mr Zeinoule Ahbedine Chundoo as Chairperson; and
(iv) the Termination of Contracts of Service Board with Mr Nandkishore Ramburn as Chairperson.