Jowai Feb 4: After the first “Cabinet on the Move” held at Tura in June last year, the second cabinet meeting outside the state capital was held at Jowai in West Jaiñtia Hills district on Tuesday. and announced some decisions for Jaiñtia Hills.

However four ministers – A L Hek, Hamletson Dohling, Banteidor Lyngdoh and Samlin Malngiang did not attend the cabinet meeting which was held at Mih Myntdu.

After the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma held a separate meeting with members of Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) and Jowai MLA in the presence of PWD (building) Minister, Comingone Ymbon.

Decisions on key projects and initiatives for Jaiïtia Hills were discussed.

Sangma said that the objective of the “Cabinet on the move” is to ensure that administration is brought closer to the people and to enable that the government machinery as a whole to look at issues of region specific.

He also said that the “Cabinet on the move” will allow government to focus on very specific issues that would further strengthen the process of delivery of government programmes and interventions.

On the delay to construct the shopping complex at ïawmusiang, the Chief Minister informed that the project has been cleared by the Ministry of DoNER few years back under the NLCPR, but due to changes in drawings and DPR, certain confusion was raised by the ministry, which is being clarified by the State government.

He assured that the state government will pursue the project with the Ministry of DoNER and in the meantime will release funds from the State for the project to roll out at the earliest.

The Chief Minister also announced that in March this year, the State will host an iconic tourism event at the picturesque Thadlaskeiñ Lake that aims to brand Meghalaya of its ultimate high end tourism potential.

The event titled “Meghalayan Age Festival” will be held in the second week of March for nine days.

“We are living in the Meghalayan Era and the world needs to be informed about this. Through this festival, we will brand Meghalaya and invite visitors to experience the State in a different style. We are putting different activities, music and cultural events to make this event a memorable one,” he said.

The highlights of this event will be hot air balloons, caving and glamping being held for the first time in Meghalaya, where 15 five stars luxury tents will be put up for visitors, who can enjoy 5 star facilities in the tent and enjoy the festival.

“We want to promote Meghalaya in a very big way and the Meghalayan Age Festival is just the beginning of our ambitious tourism plan,” the Chief Minister said.

He also said that during the festival, the government will showcase achievers from the State chosen from different fields — farming, education, health care, sportsmen, businessmen and develop stories around them and link their stories with Meghalaya tourism.

The chief minister also discussed issues related to the JHADC especially financial crunch being faced by the Council.