Forests (Exploratory Permits)(Amendment) Act 1997 (Act No. 15 of 1997)

CUYANA ACT No. 15 OF 1997 FORESTS (EXPLORATORY PERMITS) (AMENDMENT) ACT 1997 I assent. SAMUEL A. HINDS, President. 8th August, 1997. ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS SECTION 1. Short title. 2. Amendment of section 2 of the Principal Act. 3. Insertion of new section SA in the Principal Act. 4. Amendment of section 19 of the Principal Act. PRICE: $ 300.00 - To be purchased from the Office of thie President; Georgetown; . Guyana, PRlINrrED BY GUYANA NATIONAL PRINTERS LTD.· No, 15] ~ LAWS OF GUYANA [A.D. 199'l 5. Amendment of section 20 of the Principal Act. 6. Amendment of section 42 of the Principal Act. 7. Insertion of Schedule to the Principal Act. AN ACT to amend the Forests Act to provide for the grant of ex ploratory permits and for matters connected therewith. A. D. 1997 &hort title. Cap 67:01 Amendment of section 2 of the Principal Act. Insertion of new section 5A in rne Prtnclpal Act. Ex;p1oratory Permits. Enacted by the Parliament of Guyana: I. This Act, which amends the Forests Act, may be cited as the Forests (Exploratory Permits) (Amendment) Act 1997. 2. Section 2 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following definitions, in the appropriate alphabeti cal order "exploration of State forests" means exploration for the purposes of discovering and evaluating forest produce and includes forest inven 'tories, social and environmental impact assessments and topographic surveys; "exploratory area" means the area in relation to which an exploratory permit has been granted under this Act; "exploratory operations" means operations carried out for or in connection with the ex ploration of State forests; "exploratory permit" means a permit issued under section SA to occupy State forests for the purpose of exploratory operations; 3. The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion immediately after section S of the following "EXPLORATORY PERMITS SA.(l) Subject to this Act. the Minister may authorize the Commissioner to grant a permit to any person to occupy any area of State forest for the purpose of exploratory operations without grving such person any exclusive right to occupy toe whole or any specified part thereof. (2) No exploratory permi! with respect to any ~Ol:est produce shall be granted to an applicant unless the Commission is satisfied that the applicant's A.D. 1997] 3 FORESTS (EXPLORATORY PERMITS) (AMENDMENT) (a) financial resources, technical competence and experience to carryon effective explora tory operations are adequate; (b) programme of exploratory operations is ade quate; (c) proposals for the employment and training cf Guyanese are satisfactory; and (d) objectives are compatible with national de velopment objectives. [No, 12 (3) No exploratory permit shall be granted to an in dividual unless he is a citizen of Guyana and an 'adult. (4) No exploratory permit shall be granted to a body of persons unless it is (a) a company within the meaning of the Com panies Act 1991; No. ~ of 1991 (b) a public corporation; (c) a co-operative society registered under the Co-operative Societies Act; Cap. 88:01 (d) any other corporate body incorporated in or outside Guyana; (e) any organisation established by the Govern ment or by or under any written law capable of carrying on exploration of State Forests: Provided that where a permit is granted Ito two or more per sons, the obligations to be observed and performed by <the holder of the permit under the Act shall be joint and several, but without prejudice to any right of contribution which may exist between any or all of them, a permit may be granted to two or more such persons associated together in any form of joint arrangement. (5) A person may make an application in the form set out in the Schedule for an exploratory permit. Schedule (6) Without preiudice to the provisions of subsection (5), the Commission may, by notice published in the Gazette and in at least one daily newspaper in Guyana invite ap plications for the grant of an exploratory permit in respect of any area of State forest specified in the notice, specifying in the notice No, 15] 4 LAWS OF GUYANA [A;D. 1997. the period within which the application may be made and the con ditions subject to which the application may be made. (7) An exploratory permit shall be in such fvrm and subject to such general conditions as may be prescribed and to such special conditions as the Commission may deem necessary in the particular case. (8) An exploratory Permit may not confer exclusive rights on the holder of the exploratory permit and such permit may be issued to different persons in relation to the whole or part of the same area. (9) The Commissioner may require an applicant for an exploratory permit to execute a bond satisfactory to the Com mission for the performance and observance by the applicant of the conditions of 'the permit. upon the issue or renewal thereof. or to make arrangements satisfactory ito the Commission for the execu tion of such hond or to replenish the bond from time to time where it, or any part of it, has been forfeited to pay penalties, fines or compensation. or to remedy damages. (10) Where there is a breach of this Act or any regu lation made thereunder. or where any condition of an exploratory permit is not fulfilled. or any bond has been exhausted, the Com missioner may by notice to the holder of the permit suspend the permit, whereupon it shall cease to be lawful for the holder of the permit to carry out any exploratory operations within the explora tory area. (11) An exploratory permit shall not be transferred by the holder, being a person. to any other person without the prior consent in writing of the Commission. (12) A body corporate shall not without the prior con sent in writing of the Commission (a) register the transfer of any equity share or shares in the body corporate to any person or his nominee; or (b) enter into any agreement. arrangement or un derstanding (whether Or not having legal or equitable force) with any person. if the effect of doing so would be to give control of the body cor porate to that person or where any such transfer or agreement, arrangement or understanding mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) is made without the prior consent in writing of the Commission. it shall be void and the Commissioner may by notice to the holder A.D. 1997] 5 FORESTS (EXPLORATORY PERMITS) (AMENDMENT) [No, 15 of the permit suspend the permit upon giving the holder of the permit an opportunity to state his case. (13) Upon itaking action to suspend the permit under subsection (10). the Commissioner shall forthwith make a full re port to the President of the circumstances of the suspension of ~~he permit, whereupon the President may order (a) the cancellation of the permit; (b) die confirmation of the suspension of the per mit for such time he may determine; or (c) the withdrawal of the notice of suspension given by the Commissioner: Provided that no order under paragraph (a) or (b) shall be made without affording any person whose rights under the ex ploratory permit may thereby be affected an opportunity of stating his case. (l4) In the exercise of his powers under this section, the Minister shall consult with the Commission. (15) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that the provisions of this section do not apply to permission to explore for petroleum or to prospect for minerals in State forests and matters connected therewith. in respect of which provision has been made by the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 1986 and Ithe Mining Act 1989." 4. Section 19 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after the words "except in accordance with the terms of a" of the words "permit granted,". 5. Section 20 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended <1& follows (a) by the substitution for the words "lease or timber sales agreement" of the words "ex ploratory permit, lease or timber sales agree ment", wherever they occur; (b) in the proviso, by the substitution for the words "lessee of State forest or a grantee of a timber sales agreement" of /the words "holder of an exploratory permit, lessee ~f State forest or a grantee of a timber sales agreement" . No.3 of 1986 No. 20 of 1989 Amendment of section 19 of the Prmclpal Act. Amendment of section 20 of the Principal Act. No, 15] LAWS OF GUYANA [kD~ 19" Amendment of section 42 of the Principal Act. 6. Section 42 of the Principal Act is hereby amended as follows (a) in paragraph (h), by the insertion after the word "lease" of the words "or exploratory permit"; (b) by 'the insertion immediately after paragraph (s) of the following paragraph "(ss) regulating the manner of the exer cise of the rights to which the holder of an exploratory permit is entitled;". 7. The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the Schedule hereto as the Schedule thereto.Insertion of Schedule to the Prtnctpaj Act. Schedule "SCHEDULE FORM OF APPLICATION FOR STATE FOREST EXPLORATORY PERMIT Application No: . s.SA(5) (1) Name of Applicant. . (2) If application is made by an individual or individuals (a) Residential Address. . (b) Postal Address (if different) 00" (c) Nationality . (d) Occupation .. (e) Financial Status (Applicants are required to provide bank ers references and proof of Income Tax registration and payment for the previous five (5) years.) Ci) If application is made by a body corporate (a) Address of Registered Office , " , '" . '" F A;D: 1997) 7 FORESTS (EXPLORATORY PERMITS) (AMENDMENT) [No. 15 (b) Date and place of incorporation (Applicants are required to provide a copy of Certificate of Incorporation or equivalent) . (c) Nature of business (Applicants are required to provide copies of Memoranda and Articles of Association or equivalent) , . (d) Name, addresses and nationalky of directors or equivalent officers Name Address Nationality ...... , . .................................................... . ............................................................ . (e) Name, address, nationality and (total equity of all share holders who are beneficial owners of more than five (5) per centum of the issued share capital of the corpora tion Name Address Nationality %Sharehokling " . .... . . ............................................... . . (f) Names and place of registration of all affiliated com panies or other business entities, where parent or subsi diary operations Name Place of Regh;tration Relationship ................. - . ............................................................ . (g) Financial Status (Applicants are required to provide au dited accounts for the previous five (5) years of operation an-d, in the case of companies incorporated in Guyana proof of Corporation Tax, registration and payment over the five (5) years). No, 15] 8 LAWS OF GUYANA [A:D. 1997 (4) Identify the exploratory area in respect of which application is made (map Or plan to be attached unless the area is bounded by creeks, or otherwise well-defined boundaries, or the boundanes of which are otherwise well marked) . ............................................................ . (5) Date from which permit is sought " , ." .. (6) Full particulars of technical competence and previous experi ence in forest exploration and production operations (Appli cants are required to provide a detailed record of their explo ration and production experience in Guyana and elsewhere). ............................................................ . (7) Names and qualifications of technical experts. consultants and/or advisors (8) State Amount of capital (funds, equipment, etc.) for proposed exploratory operations (a) Capital available at present . (b) Additional capital which is available and the source of this capitaL..................................... . .. (9) Application shall be accompanied by a fee of US $20,000 and the following information (a) details of the type of forest investment in which the ap plicant is interested, including identification of the forest produce to be harvested, scale of harvesting operations, scale and location of primary, secondary and tertiary pro cessing activities and marketing proposals; (b) details of the research carried out by the company in relation to the proposed investment based on available data of published information. (c) particulars of work and minimum expenditure proposed to be carried out or expended in respect of the explora tion area for which the exploratory permit is sought; (d) a statement of the applicant's recruitment, human re source development and severance policies and practices A.D. 1997J 9 FORESTS (EXPLORATORY PERMITS) (AMENDMENT) .. [No. 15 and the applicant's proposals for employing and training citizens of Guyana; (e) particulars of the applicant's social policy, environmental policy and policy towards nationals; (f) any other particulars required by the Forest Regulations, (g) any other matters which the applicant wishes the ('Ol11 mission to consider. I/WE DECLARE that the foregoing particulars and accompsnymg information are true and correct Signed . Date Signed . (If the applicant is a body corporate state name of signatory or signatories, capacity in which form is signed and affix company seal if required).". passed by the National Assembly on 21$6 July, 1997. F. A. Narain, Clerk of the National Assembly. (BILL No. 14/1997)