COCONUT RESEARCH

(1) The board shall consist of the following persons:-

(2) Members of the board who are nominated under subsection (1) (b) from among Members of Parliament and from [he members of the Low-country Products Association of Ceylon and the Planters’ Association of Ceylon shall hold office for a period of three years, or for such period as they continue to be members of those bodies, whichever period may be the shorter.

Any other nominated member shall hold office for three years, and all nominated members may be renominated from time to time.

(3) The proceedings of the board and the method of filling such vacancies as may occur in its membership shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule.

(4) The Minister[1] may by regulation revoke, amend or add to the First Schedule, and all such regulations shall be laid, as soon as conveniently may be, on the table of the Senate and the House of Representatives[1] at two successive meetings of the Senate and the House of Representatives[1], and shall be brought before Parliament at the next subsequent meeting held thereafter by a motion that the said regulations shall not be disapproved, and if upon the introduction of any such motion, or upon any adjournment thereof, the said regulations are disapproved by the Senate and the House of Representatives[1], such regulations shall be deemed to be rescinded as from the date of such disapproval, but without prejudice to anything already done thereunder; and such regulations, if not so disapproved, shall continue to be of full force and effect. Every such disapproval shall be published in the Gazette.

(1) The members of the board for the time being shall be a body corporate and shall have the name of ” The Coconut Research Board “, and in that name shall have perpetual succession and shall and may sue and be sued in all courts in Ceylon, and may have and use a common seal.

(2) The seal of the board shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman and one member of the board, and when so authenticated shall be judicially noticed.

(3) The board may acquire and hold property, movable and immovable, and may sell, transfer, lease, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of the same, or any produce thereof, and may direct and do all things necessary for or incidental to the purposes of its constitution.

(4) The board may establish experimental stations for the purposes of this Ordinance, and may equip the same with buildings, houses, laboratories, factories, and all other appurtenances or accessories as it may think fit.

(5) The board shall, by the provision and publication of information, as well as by advice and demonstration and the inspection of plantations, give practical assistance to persons engaged in the coconut industry.

(6) The board shall also provide such facilities for the education of students in coconut research as the Minister[1] may from time to time direct.

(7) The board shall have full power and authority generally to govern, direct, and decide all matters connected with the appointment of its officers and servants, the administration of its affairs, and the accomplishment of its objects and purposes :

Provided that any such officers or servants when appointed shall, for the purposes of discipline and otherwise, be subject to the control and supervision of the chairman of the board.

(8) The board may establish and maintain a provident fund for the benefit of all or any of its officers and servants, make contributions out of the moneys at its disposal to that fund, regulate the management and investment thereof, and prescribe the contributions to be made thereto by, and the payments to be made therefrom to, such officers and servants.

(9) Such power and authority shall include a power to make rules subject to the approval of the Minister for any such matters, affairs, objects or purposes; and all such rules shall be laid, as soon as conveniently may be, on the table of the House of Representatives[1] at two successive meetings of the House of Representatives[1], and shall be brought before the House of Representatives[1] at the next subsequent meeting held thereafter by a motion that the said rules shall not be disapproved, and if upon the introduction of any such motion, or upon any adjournment thereof, the said rules are disapproved by the House of Representatives[1], such rules shall be deemed to be rescinded, but without prejudice to anything already done thereunder; and such rules if not so disapproved, shall continue to be of full force and effect. Every such disapproval shall be published in the Gazette

(1) The Deputy Secretary to the Treasury[1] shall, out of money to be provided for that purpose by Parliament,[1] pay to the board the sum of four hundred thousand rupees, one-half of which shall be deemed to be a grant to the board (hereinafter referred to as ” the grant”), and the other half of which shall be deemed to be a loan to the board (hereinafter referred to as ” the loan”), and such sum shall be applied by the board for the purpose of acquiring any lands for experiment and research in relation to coconuts and for the capital expenditure of equipping the same for experimental and research work.

(2) The grant shall be paid to the board by the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury on application.

(3) The loan shall be paid to the board in such installments and on such dates as the Minister may consider suitable to the requirements of the board.

(4) The board shall repay the principal amount of the loan or of any installment thereof by means of ten equal annual payments, the first of which payments shall be due on the expiry of a period of one year from the date on which the loan or the installment thereof, as the case may be, is paid to the board.

Together with each such annual payment the board shall also pay interest, at such rate as the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance[1] may fix, on the amount of the loan or of the installment thereof, as the case may be, which was outstanding during the year preceding the date on which such payment is made.

The Minister with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance[1] may, at any time before repayment of the loan or of the installment thereof, as the case may be, is completed, reduce the rate of interest so fixed, with effect from a specified date.

(5) Without prejudice to any other right or remedy, the State is hereby given a first hypothecary charge (which shall not require registration) on all the property and assets of the board for the amount of the loan and any interest due thereon.

(1) In order to provide an annual income for the board-

(2) Subsection (1) (a) shall have effect as though it formed a part of the Customs Ordinance, and that Ordinance shall apply accordingly.

(3) The Minister[1] may by Order[1] published in the Gazette direct that on and after such date as may be specified in the Order,[1] no further payments under subsection (1) (b) shall be made by the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury[1] to the board.

(1) The board shall, on or before the thirty-first day of October in each year, cause to be laid on the table of the Senate and the House of Representatives[1] estimates of income and expenditure for the next ensuing year.

(2) Within one month after each thirty-first day of December, the board shall cause to be prepared statements of the receipts and disbursements during the previous year, and the same shall be subject to such audit and published in such manner as the Minister[1] may direct, and a report of the work of the board, with the said statement of receipts and disbursements, shall be laid on the table of the Senate and the House of Representatives.[1]