STATE LANDS ACT

STATE LANDS ACT

s. 2A - Jurisdiction over defence lands
1. No alienation, disposal, lease or right in, or over, defence lands shall be granted except by or on behalf of the Minister to whom the responsibility for the subject of defence is assigned.
  1. s. 3 - Sale of State land
    1. The Minister may sell State land other than
      1. defence lands
      2. mountain reserves which belong to the State
      3. 'pas géométriques'
      4. river reserves which belong to the State
s. 4 - Grant or lease for charitable purposes
1. No State land shall be granted or leased otherwise than at its full rental value
  1. where a portion of State land is bona fide required for religious, charitable or educational purposes, or for purposes of public utility, grant such land, or lease it, on payment of such rental and on such condition as he may approve
  2. where a portion of State land is bona fide required for development purposes, grant such land, or lease it on payment of such rental and on such condition as he may approve.
s. 5 - Sales of State land
1. All sales of State land shall be by public auction
  1. it is in the public interest to do so and in exchange of another portion of land.
    1. where the owner of a house standing on a portion of State Land, which was built as part of a Housing Estate commonly known as an ex-CHA Housing Estate, is willing to buy the portion of land, the Minister may sell it to him by private contract at the price of 2000 rupees.
    2. the Minister may, subject to the approval of Cabinet, by private contract, sell any portion of land, including any building thereon, forming part of the 1,000 arpents of land to be transferred to Government out of the 2,000 arpents of land to be transferred by the Mauritius Sugar Producers Association (MSPA) in connection with the Government-MSPA deal signed on 22 April 2008.
s. 6 - Leases of State land
1. By public auction, notice of which shall be given in the Gazette, and 2 daily newspapers, 2 weeks at least before the day fixed for the auction, or by private contract upon such terms and conditions, not inconsistent with this Act, as the Minister may approve
  1. conditions
    1. the land leased shall not be used for any purpose for which it is not leased without the prior approval in writing of the Minister
    2. the land leased shall not be so utilised as to constitute any nuisance or to cause any detriment to or pollution of the natural resources and the environment, including any adjoining sea, beach, lake, canal or river
    3. the lease may be cancelled, after service of a notice setting out the reason for the cancellation if both conditions above are not fulfilled
    4. in accordance with guidelines issued by the Ministry responsible for the subject of lands, in terms of criteria, conditions and procedures to be adopted.
2. leases for campement sites
  1. one lease shall be held by a person, directly or indirectly, at any time
  2. one arpent and a quarter shall be let at any time to a person unless
    1. a portion of State land exceeding one arpent and a quarter is so situated that it cannot conveniently be divided, and, in the opinion of the Minister, it is desirable to let the whole of that portion to one person
    2. in the public interest
    3. approved by the Minister, where the land is to be used for recreation by a registered club or for a bona fide religious, charitable or educational purpose.
3. leases for industrial and commercial purposes
  1. the particulars thereof and the guidelines shall be available for consultation at the Ministry and posted in the website of the Ministry.
  2. be valid for a period not exceeding 60 years
  3. in a zone specified in Part I of the Second Schedule, be subject to payment of an annual rental corresponding to the zone as specified in Part II of the Second Schedule
  4. outside the zone be subject to payment of an annual rental as specified in Part III of the Second Schedule
  5. be subject to such other conditions as the Minister thinks fit.
  6. any lease for industrial or commercial purposes which is valid at the commencement of this section shall remain governed by its existing terms and conditions.
    1. The Minister shall make an offer for the lessee to irrevocably opt, not later than 30 September 2009, to enter into a new lease in respect of the land.
      1. Where a lessee opts for a new lease and the duration of the new lease covers any period of the existing lease, any rental payable or paid in respect of that period of the existing lease shall be deducted from the rental payable at the time of signature of the new lease or refunded, as the case may be.
4. where a large investment project is deemed by the Minister, subject to the approval of Cabinet, to be in the economic interest of Mauritius, the annual rental determined in accordance with that subsection shall be reduced by such amount as may be determined by the Minister, and any lease may be granted for a period not exceeding 99 years, with the approval of the Minister, subject to the approval of Cabinet.
5. The Second Schedule shall apply until a fiscal cadastre is operational.
6. The rents shall be payable in advance and, in default of payment of an instalment within one month after service of a notice claiming payment, the Minister may, notwithstanding any other enactment, by an order in writing, cancel the lease, and thereupon the Government may, without any further formality, resume possession of the land.
  1. Where the lessee, in the exercise of his rights under the lease, has planted the land possession of which is resumed by the Government, the Minister shall assess the value of the plantations existing at the time of resumption of possession and shall, after deducting from the assessment the arrears of rent due, pay over to the lessee, as compensation, an amount equal to the excess, if any, of the assessment over the arrears of rent due.
  2. Once the assessment has been made, the lessee shall be made aware of it, and shall be informed of his right of appeal
    1. may appeal to the Magistrate of the district where the State land is situated.
    2. Every appeal to the District Court shall be by plaint with summons, and shall be heard and determined according to the procedure prescribed by the District and Intermediate Courts (Civil Jurisdiction) Act.
    3. The plaint shall state the grounds of appeal, and the appellant shall not adduce evidence of any ground which is not included in the plaint.
    4. The plaint shall be lodged with the District Clerk within 10 days after notification to the appellant of the assessment complained of
    5. The Magistrate may either dismiss the appeal or vary the assessment, with or without costs
s. 7 - Rules for sale or lease by auction
1. the Minister shall give notice thereof in the Gazette and 2 daily newspapers 2 weeks at least before the day fixed for the sale or lease.
2. The notice shall distinctly state whether there are on the land intended to be sold or leased buildings belonging to the State and, if so, whether the buildings are to be sold or leased with the land.
3. the land or the lease thereto shall be adjudged at the auction to the highest bidder.
  1. The Minister may withdraw such land or lease from the auction if the highest bid is, in his opinion, below the actual value of the land or the actual rental value, as the case may be.
s. 8 - Land with buildings
1. the land shall be sold irrespective of the value of the buildings, the purchaser of the land being left free to contract with the owner of the buildings.
  1. the owner of the buildings shall receive 28 days notice from the Chief Surveyor in order to elect to remove his buildings before the sale.
s. 10 - Conditions of sale settled by Minister
1. shall be read aloud by the public auctioneer, and may vary according to the special circumstances of every case.
2. In every case, one quarter of the purchase price shall be paid before the purchaser is allowed to sign the conditions of sale, and the purchaser shall enter into a bond with 2 sureties bound jointly and severally with him to pay the balance of the purchase price at the time and in the manner settled in the conditions of sale.
3. the Government's privileged vendor's right in and over the property thus sold.
s. 11 - Purchase price
1. The public auctioneer shall forthwith pay into the hands of the Accountant-General the sums paid on account of every such sale, and the Accountant-General, to whom the necessary information shall forthwith be conveyed by the Chief Surveyor, shall claim payment of the balance due at the time when such payments ought to be effected.
  1. s. 12 - Time for payment may be granted
    1. The Minister may grant time to a purchaser for the payment of the balance due on any purchase price, and where any such balance is not paid at the time it should be paid the land shall be put up again for sale by public auction
    2. The money deposited on the day of sale shall be forfeited, and the bonds shall at once be referred to the Attorney-General for action in case of need
    3. Where, on a subsequent sale, or upon action brought against the original purchaser or sureties, the whole amount of the original purchase price with all costs and incidental charges is recovered, the Minister may remit to the original purchaser such portion of the forfeited money as is in excess of the original purchase price, costs and incidental charges.
2. s. 13 - Payment of purchase price
  1. A purchaser may pay to the public auctioneer at the time of the sale the whole of the purchase money, and also pay by anticipation into the hands of the Accountant-General the whole of the balance due on the purchase price.
3. s. 14 - Deed of sale to be executed within 4 months
  1. Every purchaser or lessee shall execute the deed of sale or of lease within 4 months of his entry in possession.
  2. Every deed of sale shall embody the conditions of sale under which the adjudication took place, a short memorandum of the adjudication and, where the conditions of sale do not convey a sufficiently clear and accurate verbal description, there shall be annexed a descriptive survey of the lands sold, made or caused to be made by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry responsible for the subject of lands or any officer delegated by him.
  3. The survey shall be made at the expense of the purchaser.
  4. Every deed of lease shall contain the stipulated conditions of the lease, and to it shall be annexed a descriptive survey under the same conditions as are enacted for deeds of sale.
  5. s. 15 - Deed made at transferee's expense
    1. Deeds, whether of sale or of lease, shall be made at the expense of the purchaser or lessee, and shall be registered and transcribed by the Conservator of Mortgages at the instance of the Government, but at the expense of the purchaser or lessee.
  6. s. 15A - Parties to deeds
    1. shall be signed by the party purchasing the land or taking the lease and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.
    2. Deeds of lease of land settlement land shall be signed by the party taking the lease and by the Chief Agricultural Officer.
s. 17 - Purchase of land not advertised
1. A person who wishes to purchase at a public auction land which has not been advertised for sale, or to lease the land may apply to the Minister stating as precisely as possible the locality, area and boundaries of the land required to be purchased or to be held under contract of lease.
s. 18 - ‘Jouissances'
1. The Minister shall not grant 'jouissances' of State land.
2. s. 20 - Expiring 'jouissances'
  1. Existing 'jouissances' held for a limited period determined by efflux of time, shall not be renewed, but may be converted into a sale or a lease as the Minister thinks fit.
  2. Where there are buildings erected by the holder of the 'jouissance' on the land, the holder may remove his buildings or demand that the land be put up for sale, unless the Minister agrees to purchase the buildings.
s. 22 - Eviction of squatters
1. No person shall take possession of, encroach upon, cultivate or put up any building or other structure on any part of any State land without the express authorisation in writing of the Minister.
  1. shall be deemed to be a squatter.
2. The Minister may cause a notice to be issued calling upon him to vacate the land within a delay to be specified in the notice.
  1. shall be served on the squatter in person or, where the squatter cannot be traced or served with the notice within 48 hours of its issue, posted up in a conspicuous place on the land or any building or other structure on the land.
    1. fails to comply with a notice served on him or posted up
      1. in the case of a person who has put up a building or other structure on State land, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years
      2. to a fine not exceeding 5,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months
3. Any person who incites another person to take possession of, encroach upon, cultivates or put up any building or other structure on any part of any State land without the express authorisation in writing of the Minister, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
4. the Minister may, with the assistance of a police officer, cause a squatter to be removed from any land occupied by him, and cause any building or other structure existing on the land to be demolished.
5. Where a squatter who has been removed from State land re-occupies it, or occupies other State land without the express authorisation in writing of the Minister, he shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of 5,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year or more than 3 years.
s. 25 - Curatelle lands
1. Where the Curator has been sent in possession of immovable property, the area of which is of 50 acres or more, he shall give notice of the fact to the Conservator of Forests, who shall then keep watch over, superintend and protect, such property on behalf and at the expense of the Curator.
2. The Conservator of Forests shall not incur any expense on account of the property, except such as may be necessary to keep watch over, superintend and protect it.
s .26 - Rights of police and forest officers
1. A police officer shall have the same rights and duties as a forest officer and, when acting as such, shall be deemed a forest officer
2. A forest officer shall have, with regard to search warrants issued in any suspected case of a breach of this or any other enactment concerning State land, woods, forests or plantations, the same powers as a police officer.
s, 28 - Costs and powers of Minister
1. Where the Minister thinks it just and expedient to grant a lease of State land to a person having squatted on it, or to any other person, and whatever may be the terms or conditions of the lease, the Minister, where satisfied that the tenant or intended tenant is too poor to be able to pay the costs for a title deed or for its registration, may remit such costs, or reduce them to such nominal sum as he thinks just and reasonable, or allow them to be paid by instalments.
2. The costs for a title deed which the Minister is empowered to remit or reduce, or allow to be paid by instalments, under this section shall include costs of transcription of the title deed.
s. 31 - Exchange of State land
1. the Minister may authorise the exchange of State land for any other land by private contract, upon such terms and conditions as he may approve.
s. 32 - State land in payment of compensation
1. the Minister may authorise State land to be given by private contract, upon such terms and conditions as he may approve, in payment of any compensation payable in respect of land compulsorily acquired by the Government.
s. 34 - Public nuisance
1. Any person who dumps, or causes to be dumped, any sand, coral, earth, stones, wood or other object on State land or on any beach, sea, canal, river or lake adjoining State land, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine which shall not be less than 500 rupees or more than 2,000 rupees, and to imprisonment for a term which shall not exceed 5 months.
2. the Court may order the offender to remove the subject-matter of the offence, within a period to be specified by the Court or, in case of default, to pay the costs of the removal.
s. 35 - State land imprescriptible
1. Notwithstanding article 2227 of the Code Napoléon or any other enactment, State land is imprescriptible.

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