Cabinet gives nod Mandatory for drug addicts to undergo rehab

By Sandun A Jayasekera

The cabinet gave the nod this week to a Cabinet memo submitted by President Maithripala Sirisena  to make it mandatory for all drug addicts to undergo a rehabilitation programme. 
The Drug Dependant Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act No. 54 of 2007 will be amended accordingly.  

The amended Act will provide for the review of the duties of the director of the treatment and rehabilitation centre, make way to get private treatment for drug victims and set a minimum time frame for rehabilitation.   

The government is to set up a Scholarship for Educational Excellence (SEE) Fund for students who excelled in their given subject like Arts, Physics, Biology, IT, Commerce or any other subject. They will get the opportunity to go for further study to prestigious foreign Universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard etc.  

The proposal made by the Finance Minister for the purpose was approved by Cabinet and was referred to the Legal Draftsman for onward action.  

The Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to increase the Embarkation Levy by US$ 10 and reduce the prices of jet fuel and furnace oil at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) with the aim of attracting more aircraft into Sri Lanka.   

The prices of jet fuel and ground handling fees will be reduced to be on par with that of the Chennai Airport in South India.