Mauritius
Waste Water Management Authority Act
Act 39 of 2000
- Commenced on 30 August 2001
- [This is the version of this document at 30 June 2017.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Waste Water Management Authority Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act—"Authority" means the Waste Water Management Authority established under section 3;"Board" means the Waste Water Management Authority Board referred to in section 8;"Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Board appointed under section 8 (2);"conduit" means a structure, including a pipe, passageway or channel and its connections above or below ground, which is designed or used to convey water, effluent, sewage or waste water;"Contrat de Délégation" means a contract embodying the terms and conditions by which the public waste water management and service or the operation and maintenance of any waste water system is delegated to the Authority;"Convention de Maîtrise d’Ouvrage Délégué" means a contract embodying the terms and conditions by which the Authority undertakes to execute such waste water works as are mentioned in the contract;"effluent" means waste water, whether treated, treated partially or untreated, produced by or discharged from industrial, commercial or domestic premises or waste water works;"General Manager" means the chief executive officer appointed under section 11;"ground water" has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Ground Water Act;"house connection" means a pipe or conduit providing private waste water services for the conveyance of effluent from private premises to the public sewer;"house drain" means a conduit, whether covered or not, used or intended to be used for the collection, conveyance and removal of rain water falling on or flowing from any roof, terrace, yard, garden or any part of any tenement;"house sewer" means a sewer intended to be used for the removal of effluent from any property and its conveyance into the waste water system;"member" means a member of the Board and includes the Chairperson;"Minister" means the Minister to whom responsibility for the subject of waste water is assigned;"occupier" means a person in actual occupation of a property without regard to the title under which he occupies;"owner" means—(a)the person who for the time being receives or, if the property were to be let, would be entitled to receive, the rent for the property, whether for his own benefit or that of any other person;(b)the occupier, where the owner cannot be found or ascertained, or is not in Mauritius, or is not reasonably available;(c)the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry in charge of the property, where it belongs to the State;(d)the lessee, in the case of leased State land; or(e)the person to whom the management is entrusted, in all other cases, of public property;"premises" means land or tenement, whether enclosed or not, built on or not, and includes a building, hut, shed, tent or other structure above or below ground on such land or tenement;"public sewer" means a sewer which is under operation, maintenance and supervision of the Authority;"road" has the same meaning as in the Roads Act;"sewer"—(a)means any conduit used or intended to be used for the reception, conveyance or removal of effluent; and(b)includes manholes, tanks, traps, valves, syphons and other appliances provided or used in connection with the conduit;"treatment plant" means any tank, apparatus or assembly meant to effect the treatment of effluent;"vesting day", in relation to Part V, means—(a)the day prescribed by the Minister, as defined in the Central Water Authority Act, in respect of the assets of the Central Water Authority; or(b)the day prescribed by the Minister, as defined in the Waste Water Authority Act 1991, in respect of the assets under the control of the Waste Water Authority under the Waste Water Authority Act 1991;"waste water" means water sullied or contaminated by any matter, in solution or suspension, derived from its use in connection with domestic, industrial, or other activities;"waste water fee or rate" means the fee or rate levied under section 25;"waste water system"—(a)means a sewer, conduit, pump, engine, or other appliance used or intended to be used for the reception, conveyance, removal, treatment, and disposal of effluent; and(b)does not include house sewers;"waste water works" means such works as may be required or done for the collection, conveyance, treatment, and disposal of waste water and includes the maintenance of such works;"works undertaking contract" means a contract embodying the terms and conditions by which the Authority undertakes to execute such waste water works as are mentioned in the contract.[S. 2 amended by s. 3 of Act 33 of 2003 w.e.f. 13 September 2003; s. 3 of Act 26 of 2004 w.e.f. 26 August 2004.]Part II – Establishment and functions of Authority
3. Establishment of Authority
4. Objects of Authority
The objects of the Authority shall be to—5. Duties of Authority
6. Powers of Authority
7. Compensation
Part III – Management of Authority
8. The Board
9. Powers of Minister
10. Meetings of Board
11. General Manager
12. Delegation
Subject to such instructions or rules of a general nature as it may give or make, the Board may delegate to the General Manager such of its powers under this Act as may be necessary to assist him in the effective management of the day-to-day business and activities of the Authority, other than the power to—13. Management of assets and funds
The Board shall manage and utilize all the assets and funds vested in the Authority, including those so vested through a Convention de Maîtrise d’Ouvrage Délégué, Contrat de Délégation or otherwise, in such manner and for such purposes as, in its opinion, will best promote the objects of the Authority.14. Appointment of employees
15. Conditions of service of employees
The Board may make provision to govern the conditions of service of the employees of the Authority and, in particular, to deal with—16. Protection from liability
Part IV – Financial provisions and accounts
17. General Fund
18. Transfer of property and borrowing
The Authority shall not, except with the approval of the Minister—19. Raising of funds
20. Register of debentures
21. Debentures may be a charge
A debenture issued under this Act may be made the subject of a charge (sûreté) under the Code Civil Mauricien.22. Pledging of debentures
23. Liquidity
The Authority shall hold—24. Estimate
25. Fees, rates and charges
26. Collection and recovery of fees, rates, and charges
Fees, rates, charges, and other dues accruing to the Authority shall be collected directly by the Authority or by any other person for and on behalf of the Authority, on such terms and conditions as may be approved by the Minister.27. Charges, loan redemption and depreciation
The Authority shall make adequate provision for—28. Execution of documents
29. Exemption
No registration fee or duty shall be payable in respect of any document issued or executed by, on behalf of or to the benefit of the Authority.30. Accounts
Part V – Transfer of assets and liabilities
31. Vesting of property in Authority
32. Transfer of rights and liabilities
33. Grant of State land
The Government of Mauritius may grant to the Authority, on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, any interest in or over any State land which, immediately before the vesting day, was occupied, or on which operations were carried out, for the purpose of the waste water services of the Central Water Authority or the Waste Water Authority established by the Waste Water Authority Act 1991.34. Authority not to transfer property
The Authority shall not, except with the approval of the Minister, alienate, charge, sell, dispose of, or otherwise deal with any immovable property vested in the Authority under section 31 or 33.Part VI – Legal proceedings
35. Proceedings against Authority
36. Service of documents
Part VII – Duties of public and enforcement by Authority
37. Restriction on free disposal of effluent and water
37A. Prohibition on free disposal of effluent and waste water
38. Notice of injurious effluent
39. Notice of contravention
40. Waste water works
41. Sub-soil water and drains
42. Design of sewers, treatment plant and disposal systems
43. Recovery of expenses
44. Restricted use of land where sewers exist
45. Inspection
Part VIII – Miscellaneous
46. Police assistance
The Police shall, in addition to the powers conferred on it by the Police Act, intervene to assist the Authority in the service of notices, inspection and entry to premises, in the carrying out of disconnection or waste water works or such other matter as is reasonably necessary for the administration of this Act.47. Regulations
48. Offences and penalties
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50. ***
51. ***
52. ***
History of this document
30 June 2017 this version
Consolidation
30 August 2001
Commenced