Sand and Granite Quarries Bill

“granite quarry” means any land from which granite blocks, gravel, stones and overburden are extracted by blasting, sorting, breaking, loading and transporting whether the processes are executed by manual labour or mechanical means;

“licence” means a licence issued under section 5 of this Act;

“licensee” means any person to whom a licence to use or manage any land for the purposes of a sand or granite quarry has been issued under section 5 of this Act;

“Licensing Officer” means the officer appointed by the Minister under section 3 of this Act;

“sand quarry” means any land on which persons are employed in manual labour in any process for or incidental to the getting, dressing or preparation for the sale or otherwise of sand, gravel or earth.

No person shall, on or after the date of the coming into operation of this Act, use or manage any land for the purposes of a sand or granite quarry without a licence from the Licensing Officer authorising him so to do.

Any person who uses or manages any land for the purposes of a sand or granite quarry without a licence shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for every day or part thereof during which the offence is continued after conviction.

In any prosecution for an offence under this section —

The Licensing Officer may at his discretion grant, renew or refuse any licence in pursuance of this Act or any regulations made thereunder.

Licences in pursuance of this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be granted, renewed or refused without any reason for such grant, renewal or refusal being assigned therefor and may be granted or renewed subject to such restrictions and conditions as the Licensing Officer may think fit and shall be subject to suspension or revocation at any time without compensation and without notice by the Licensing Officer upon breach of any restriction or condition subject to which it was issued.

The Licensing Officer may require any applicant for a licence to furnish such information as the Licensing Officer may reasonably require for a full and proper consideration of the application and in the event of a refusal to furnish such information shall refuse to grant or renew such licence.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in the licence, any licence granted or renewed in pursuance of this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be for such period not exceeding twelve months as the Licensing Officer thinks fit.

There shall be charged for the grant or renewal of any licence such fee as the Minister may, from time to time by regulations, prescribe.

No such licence shall be transferable without the consent of the Licensing Officer.

No licence for carrying on any granite quarry shall be granted unless the applicant for such licence desposits with the Licensing Officer a certified site plan from the Chief Surveyor indicating the location of the granite quarry.

Any person aggrieved by the refusal by the Licensing Officer to grant or renew any licence or by the suspension or revocation by the Licensing Officer of any licence may within one month of such refusal, suspension or revocation appeal to the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final.

If a licensee fails to execute any work or works which he is required by this licence or by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to execute for the purpose of preventing any nuisance or danger to life or property, the Licensing Officer may, by notice in writing, require him to execute such work or works within such time as may be specified in the notice.

If such licensee fails to comply with the requirements of such notice, the Licensing Officer may, at any time after the expiration of the time specified in the notice and without instituting any proceedings against such licensee, cause such work or works to be executed and the expenses incurred thereby shall be paid by such licensee and may be recovered by the Licensing Officer —

Any licensee who in the course of sand and granite quarrying operations interferes in any way with the bank of any river, stream or watercourse may be required by the Licensing Officer, by notice in writing, to restore the same to the same condition in which it was prior to such interference or to remake the same in such manner and within such time as may be specified in the notice.

Any licensee who fails to comply with the requirements of such notice shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars for every day or part thereof during which the offence is continued after conviction.

The Licensing Officer may, at any time after the expiration of the time specified in such notice and without instituting any proceedings against such licensee, cause the works specified in the notice to be executed and the expenses thereby incurred shall be paid by the licensee in default and may be recovered by the Licensing Officer —

Every licensee shall only use fresh water in connection with his sand quarrying operations and shall make such provision or take such steps as will ensure that all such water so used shall, before it leaves the sand quarrying area on which it has been so used, be freed from any mud, sand, silt or any other refuse of the sand quarry which is likely to interfere with the natural flow of water in any river, stream, channel or watercourse.

The Licensing Officer may, by notice in writing, require any licensee to provide such spillways, retaining walls, brush dams, settling pits and other mechanical appliances or devices as the Licensing Officer may deem necessary for effectual compliance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section and may also order such licensee to suspend his sand quarrying operations until such provision has been made.

The compliance of the licensee with a notice or order made under subsection (2) of this section shall not affect any liability incurred by any licensee through breach of the provisions of subsection (1) of this section.

The Licensing Officer may give such directions in writing as he may deem necessary for the disposal of all earth, sludge, dirt, sand, silt or other waste matter from any sand or granite quarry.

The Licensing Officer may, by notice in writing, require any licensee to take such precautions and to construct and maintain such drains, spillways, channels and other works as may in his opinion be necessary to ensure that earth, sludge, dirt, sand, silt or other waste matter from any sand or granite quarry shall not be carried or washed away by storm water or by fresh water used for the purpose of working such sand or granite quarry to any place not being a place where the same may lawfully be deposited.

The licensee of any sand or granite quarry shall —

The Licensing Officer may give a licensee such directions as he thinks fit as to the method of quarrying and the suspension or prohibition of granite quarrying operations including blasting to ensure safety to persons or property.

When any notice, order or direction under this Act or any regulations made thereunder requires any act to be done or work to be executed by the owner or licensee of any sand or granite quarry and default is made in complying with the requirement of such notice, order or direction, as the case may be, the person in default shall, where no fine is specially provided for such default, be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.

When any such notice requires any act to be done or work to be executed for which no time is fixed by this Act or any regulations made thereunder, such notice shall state a reasonable time for compliance with the requirement.

Whenever a licensee would be liable under the provisions of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder to any pecuniary penalty or forfeiture for any act, omission, neglect or default, he shall be liable to the same pecuniary penalty or forfeiture for every similar act, omission, neglect or default of any agent or servant employed by him in the course of his business as such licensee.

Every person who appears to be employed in any sand or granite quarry licensed under this Act shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be a servant of the licensee thereof.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as relieving any such agent or servant from any penalty or forfeiture to which he would otherwise be liable.

Except as herein otherwise provided, in all cases when costs or expenses are by this Act directed to be paid the amount and any question of liability shall, in the case of dispute or failure to pay, be summarily ascertained and determined by a Magistrate’s Court.

If the amount of costs or expenses is not paid by the person liable to pay the same within seven days after demand, such amount may be reported to a Magistrate’s Court and recovered in the same way as if it were a fine imposed by a Magistrate’s Court.

An appeal shall lie to the High Court from any decision of a Magistrate’s Court under this section, and the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 132) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to all such appeals.

The Minister may make such regulations as he may deem expedient for the purposes of this Act.

All regulations made under this Act shall be published in the Gazette and shall be presented to Parliament as soon as may be after publication.