Following are the decisions taken by the Cabinet of Ministers on July 15:
Procurement for the supply of expanding balloon catheters
In accordance with the recommendation of the cabinet appointed standing procurement committee, the proposal presented by Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine to award the contract of supplying 40 types of expanding balloon catheters for heart patients, to M/s Ceegeez Associates for a total cost of Rs. 207.74 million was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Purchase of an additional 50 percent of the shipment volume of the existing long-term petrol (92 Unl) contract
M/s Vitol Asia Pte. Ltd in Singapore has been awarded the long-term procurement of 1,800,000 barrels (1.8 million) of petrol (92 Unl) for a period of nine months from January15, 2O2O to October 14, 2020. The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Power and Energy to purchase an equivalent of 50 percent of the procurement as a re-order, subject to the existing terms and conditions, in terms of the provisions of procurement guidelines 3.6 and upon the recommendation of the Cabinet-appointed standing special procurement committee.
Contract for the supply and distribution of Areal Bundle cable 1,500 Km
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Power and Energy in accordance with the recommendation of procurement appeal committee to award the supplying and distributing contract of 1500 km Aerial Bundle cables for the CEB Distribution Zone 02 to M/s Sierra Cables PLC, Sri Lanka, for Rs. 900.50 million (without VAT).
Providing relief to electricity consumers for electricity bills during the period from March to May
The report of the committee appointed by the Minister of Power and Energy to make recommendations on the relief to be provided to consumers for electricity bills for the period from March to May 2020 due to the Covid-19 epidemic situation, was taken up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on July 8. The Minister of Finance, Economy and Policy Development was requested to further study the recommendations of the committee with the Treasury officials and submit proposals on possible relief to electricity consumers.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposals of the Minister that were submitted accordingly.
1) If the value of each bill for the months of March, April and May is greater than the value of the February bill, to charge an amount equal to the February bill for those three months and grant a grace period of two months to settle the bill.
2) Regarding customers who have already paid their bills, taking steps to offset the overpayment from future bills.
3) To temporarily suspend the power supply disconnection that is performed on the delay in bill payment.
A host state agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF)
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Environment and Wildlife to enter into a Host State Agreement with the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) to obtain the international scientific, technical and financial assistance needed to empower Sri Lanka in the adverse effects of climate change.
Amendment of the procurement guidelines for assisting local industries
Although provisions are furnished for local selections in the government procurement guidelines, it has been observed that the available limits to achieve benefits for the local suppliers and companies from those provisions. Under the circumstances generated due to COVID-19 pandemic conditions, local companies and entrepreneurs expect government assistance.
Taking this fact too into consideration, it has been observed that following selections are suitable to be provided for the local industries that can generate more employment opportunities and can be added a value such as for furniture and equipment, software and hardware and construction.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the following proposals submitted by the Prime Minister as the Minister of Finance, Economic and Policy Development, for providing opportunity for local selection as follows for companies at least having 5l percent of ownership of Sri Lankan citizens and for local companies accomplished a period of five years after being recognized for procurement of goods and services for the state institutions. Procurement of office furniture and equipment only from local producers having at least a minimum of 50 percent of local value addition.
Procurement of all the software requirement only from local companies and if difficult to act accordingly, procurement of such necessary goods from non-local companies subject to the approval of Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency.
Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency manufactures the specifications relevant to the computer hardware required for the state institutions and if any institution makes a local value addition of 25 percent, they are to provide a 30 percent selection at the procurement evaluation process. Al1 constructions including houses, highways, irrigation, water supply and sewage systems should be awarded to local contractors, while the value of the contracts if given to sub contractors, to foreign contractors; those contracts should not exceed 10 percent from the contract value without temporary funds. Issuance of amended procurement guidelines in consultations with National Procurement Commission for acting as above.
Media reports being published on a project for extracting high-quality Ilmenite in the coastal belt of the Mannar Island
The Minister of Industries and Supply Chain Management drew the attention of the Cabinet of Ministers on a report published on a daily English newspaper indicating facts that explorations are being conducted relevant to a project for extracting ilmenite in the coastal belt of the Mannar Island, subject to an agreement entered in to between an Australian company and a local company and also a project report being circulated in the web on the connection.
The Minister further mentioned that the institution responsible for issuance of permission for any exploration has not given any such permission. Having considered these facts, it was decided to appoint a committee of officers to study the facts and submit a detailed report on the actions to be taken.
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