What did the Cabinet of Ministers decide on, this week?

The following decisions were made at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on 9th September. 1. The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal submitted by the Minister of Mass Media for using government media institutions for the advertising and publicity purposes of government and semi-government institutions, to the value of 25% of the publicity budget of all government and semi-government institutions. 2. The Cabinet of Ministers has awarded the contract for the supply of empty gas cylinders for liquid petroleum gas (LPG) to Litro Gas Lanka Limited for the year 2020. The contract is subject to the recommendation of the Standing Procurement Committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers and is as follows. - The supply of 22,000, 105,056 and 1,260 cylinders respectively under the categories of 2.3 kilograms, 12.5 kilograms and 37.5 kilograms for an amount of USD 2.18 million to M/s. Metal Mate Co. Ltd. and - The supply of 117,040 cylinders under the category of 5 kilograms for an amount of USD 1.58 million to Sahamitr Pressure Containers Public Co. Ltd. 3. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the combined proposal forwarded by the Hon. Prime Minister as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Agriculture for the implementation of the accelerated programme to supply fertilizer to farmers without any shortages for the Maha season 2020/21 as follows. - Facilitate the provision of fertilizer to paddy farmers free of charge, and implement programmes to popularize environmentally friendly fertilizers. - Import the 230,000 metric tons of fertilizer required by paddy farmers for the Maha season 2020/21 through government fertilizer companies - Grant permission to fertilizer companies that agree to import the required 300,000 metric tons of extra fertilizer. While 332,000 metric tons of fertilizer is required for crops excluding paddy cultivation for the Maha Season 2021, only 40,000 metric tons are available through fertilizer companies. - Grant permission to other eligible companies to import fertilizer for the Maha season, subject to a maximum of 5,000 metric tons. -Allow farmers to purchase 50-kilogram sacks of fertilizer for a price of Rs. 1,500/- per sack for crops excluding paddy. 4. The Cabinet of Ministers granted their approval for the proposal submitted by the Minister of Education for printing 13,890,000 copies of 106 categories of school textbooks for an amount of Rs. 1,093.71 million from the Government Printing Corporation, and another 25,541,500 copies of 294 categories of textbooks for an amount of Rs. 2,059.01 million from selected private sector printing institutions.