Tuesday’s Cabinet sitting produced three further decisions beyond those already reported: a set of regulations governing where and how indigenous communities may pursue their traditional livelihoods, a new passenger ferry between Delft Island and Jaffna, and Rs. 1.6 billion for printing next year’s school textbooks.

Rules for indigenous livelihoods

The first decision introduces regulations governing the activities of indigenous communities within designated areas, Hiru News reported.

The regulations have been drafted under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (Chapter 469) and would allow registered members of the indigenous community who hold rights acquired “through law, custom, usage, or traditional practice” to carry out the relevant activities inside those designated areas. The government’s stated aim is to protect traditional livelihoods and the surrounding ecosystem at the same time, by creating a formal mechanism that lets those livelihoods continue while remaining consistent with existing law.

The tension the regulations are meant to resolve is a long-standing one: much of the land on which those traditional activities take place is protected under the same Ordinance that restricts activity there. Writing an express permission into that Ordinance’s own regulations is an attempt to settle the conflict in law rather than leave it to enforcement discretion — though what the permission is actually worth will depend on provisions the announcement does not yet contain.

The proposal came from the Minister of Environment. The regulations are to be published in the Government Gazette and then presented to Parliament.

A 150-seat ferry for Delft

The Cabinet also approved a passenger ferry service between Delft Island and Jaffna under the ‘Praja Shakthi’ national programme, the Daily Mirror reported. The stated problem is the absence of adequate facilities to move large numbers of passengers safely between the Jaffna peninsula and its outer islands, Delft in particular.

The vessel will carry around 150 passengers at a time and is to be built by Sinor Foundation Limited. It will be operated through the Delft Development Society, established under the Department of Samurdhi Development, and the income it generates is to be directed to livelihood development for low-income communities on the island, including the Society’s own members.

That ownership structure is the unusual part of the decision: the route is being treated as a community enterprise rather than a transport contract, with the fare revenue retained locally. Delft lies off the western tip of the peninsula and has appeared in national reporting this month mainly through Navy seizures of Indian trawlers in the waters around it.

Rs. 1.6bn for 2027 textbooks

The Cabinet approved contracts worth Rs. 1,614.69 million excluding VAT to 21 printing houses for school textbooks and modules required for 2027, the Daily Mirror reported.

The Department of Educational Publications had invited bids under the National Competitive Procurement Procedure for 421 types of textbooks and modules, including materials for Grades 1, 2 and 6 — the entry years of the primary, upper-primary and secondary cycles. All are to be distributed free of charge to schoolchildren in 2027.

The 421 titles were selected following bid evaluation and the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee. The proposal was submitted by the Prime Minister in her capacity as Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.

The rest of the sitting

The same meeting approved the e-Court communications upgrade for 350 courts, over Rs. 4bn in road contracts and a Colombo congestion study, the visa-free travel agreement with Thailand and the Rs. 30,000 fertiliser subsidy for the Maha season.

Not reported

On the indigenous regulations, the filing does not name the Minister of Environment, identify which areas are to be designated, specify which activities are permitted, or explain how members are to be registered or who maintains that register — the provisions that will determine what the regulations actually permit. No date is given for the Gazette notice or for presentation to Parliament, and no indigenous community representative is quoted.

For the ferry, no cost, construction timeline or service start date is stated, no fare structure is indicated, and there is no detail on Sinor Foundation Limited or on how the Delft Development Society will crew and maintain the vessel. On the textbooks, the 21 printing houses are not named, no per-contract values or print volumes are given, and neither filing says whether the Grade 1, 2 and 6 materials reflect a syllabus revision or routine reprinting.