COLOMBO WATERWORKS



COLOMBO WATERWORKS
AN ORDINANCE TO TRANSFER THE CEYLON GOVERNMENT WATERWORKS TO THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF COLOMBO.
Ordinance Nos,
18 of 1907
27 of 1914
8 of 1915
9 of 1916
9 of 1918
28 of 1921
25 of 1928
28 of 1930
4 of 1932
23 of 1942
29 of 1947
[2nd January
, 1908
]
Short title.

1.This Ordinance may be cited as the Colombo Municipal Council Waterworks Ordinance.

Transfer of Ceylon Government Waterworks to Municipal Council of Colombo.

2. From and after the commencement of this Ordinance the waterworks, hitherto known as the Ceylon Government Waterworks, shall belong to and be vested in the Municipal Council of Colombo (hereinafter referred to as ” the Council”), and shall be known as ” The Colombo Municipal Council Waterworks”, and all tanks, reservoirs, cisterns, fountains, wells, aqueducts, conduits, tunnels, pipes, pumps, or other waterworks existing at the commencement of this Ordinance, or afterwards made, laid, or erected, and whether made, laid, or erected at the cost of the Council or otherwise, and all roads, ways, rights, servitudes, bridges, buildings, engines, works, materials, and things connected therewith or appertaining thereto, and also any adjacent land (not being private property) appertaining to any such works, shall be vested in the Council. And the Council shall have the right of breaking open the soil at any place for the purpose of using, repairing, or replacing the said pipes:

Provided that it shall with all convenient speed restore the ground broken open to its former condition.

Power of Municipal Council to appoint Waterworks Engineer, & c.

3. The Council shall appoint a fit and proper person, who shall be called the Waterworks Engineer, to perform the duties and exercise the powers hereinafter mentioned, and such inspectors, sub- inspectors, clerks, and other officers as may be necessary ; and all duties and powers hereinafter required to be performed and exercised by the Waterworks Engineer may be performed and exercised by any officer authorized thereto in writing by the Waterworks Engineer.

Waterworks Engineer subject to control of Mayor of Council.

4. In the execution of the duties and exercise of the powers conferred upon him by this Ordinance, the Waterworks Engineer shall be subject to the directions and control of the Mayor of the Council.

Provision as to existing staff.

5. The Council shall confirm the appointments of such of the officers of the Ceylon Government Waterworks holding office at the commencement of this Ordinance as are willing to take service under the Council, on such terms as shall be offered by the Council.

Payment of costs of maintaining waterworks.

6. The Council shall defray from the Municipal Fund all costs and charges in respect of the maintenance of the waterworks, and such salaries, wages, and pensions as may be earned by the staff engaged thereon or may become due to them by reason of their service under the Council.

Duty of Council to supply water Municipal limits.

7. The Council shall provide a supply of drinking water within the Municipality of Colombo, and shall for that purpose cause within such pipes to be laid, and such tanks, reservoirs, or other works to be made, as are necessary for the supply of wholesome water in the public streets of the Colombo Municipality, and shall erect in such streets convenient stand-pipes, fountains, open reservoirs, or pumps for the gratuitous use of the inhabitants of the Municipality for domestic purposes. It shall be the duty of the Council, as far as possible, to make adequate provision that such supply of water shall be continuous throughout the year, and that the water supplied shall be at all times fit for human consumption.

Supply of water to Government.

8. Subject to the provisions of section 20, the Council shall within the limits of the Municipality of Colombo provide a supply of water for the use of the Government and of the armed forces, which for domestic purposes shall be supplied free of charge, but for other than domestic purposes shall be supplied in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance and of any regulations made thereunder relating to the supply of water for other than domestic purposes.

Power of the Municipal Council to allow a private service of water.

9. The Council may, on application by the owner or occupier of any house, allow a private service of water to such house for domestic purposes, in such quantities and under such conditions as the Council shall deem reasonable.

When private service is allowed Council to make the connection between street waterworks pipe and the near boundary of the premises to be served.

10. When a private service is allowed, the Council shall make the necessary connection between the street waterworks pipe and the boundary of the street as near as conveniently may be to the premises to be served, but the cost of such connection and of all further piping and of all internal fittings requisite for such private service shall be borne by the owner or occupier;

Provided, however, that no connection shall be made with the street waterworks pipe until the cost thereof, as estimated by the Waterworks Engineer, shall have been deposited with the Council, and until all the private piping and internal fittings requisite for the private service shall have previously been erected and completed to the satisfaction of the Waterworks Engineer.

Execution of works other than connections with street pipe-

11. The works, other than the connection between the street waterworks pipe and the boundary of the street as near as conveniently may be to the premises to be served, necessary for such private service, and all future repairs, extensions, and alterations of such works, shall in every case be in accordance with the regulations contained in the Schedule and such further regulations as shall, from time to time, be made in that behalf by the Council with the consent of the Minister, and shall be executed by the Waterworks Engineer, or, if the owner or occupier applying for the private service so desires, by a plumber licensed by the Council and employed by the owner or occupier. Every such plumber shall, while so employed, be subject to the orders of the Waterworks Engineer and shall complete such works or such repairs, extensions or alterations to the satisfaction of the Waterworks Engineer.

If the said works, or the repairs, extensions, and alterations of the same shall be executed by the Waterworks Engineer, the expense thereof, when certified under the hand of the Waterworks Engineer, shall be defrayed by such owner or occupier, and the same may be recovered by the Council as if it were a tax payable under the Municipal Councils Ordinance and any existing or future amending enactments, and when recovered shall be accounted for as the Council may direct.

When may owner of tenements be compelled to install private service.

12.

(1) Where it appears to the Mayor that any tenement-house or range of tenements capable of being occupied by thirty or more persons within the Municipal limits is without a proper service of water, and that the necessary arrangements for such a service (in so far as these are not required to be made by the Council) can be made at a reasonable cost, the Mayor may give notice in writing to the owner of such tenement-house or range of tenements requiring him within a time therein specified to obtain such proper private service, and to execute all such works as may be incumbent upon him for the purpose.

(2) If such notice is not complied with within the time specified, the Mayor may cause the work to be executed and costs thereof recovered in the manner prescribed by section 11.(* See section 323 of the Municipal Councils Ordinance for the application of this section to Galle.)

Maintenance of waterworks.

13. The Council shall cause all public tanks, reservoirs, cisterns, wells, aqueducts, conduits, tunnels, pipes, pumps, fountains, and other works used for the supply of water and vested in the Council by this Ordinance to be maintained and supplied with water, as well as any further works which may be constructed by the Council for such purpose.

Council to construct filters and other works.

14. The Council may, from time to time, construct filters, tanks, aqueducts, or other works for bringing wholesome water into the Municipality of Colombo for the use of the inhabitants.

Power of the Council to break up streets, & c, and enter private land.

15.

(1) The Council in laying down any pipes for the water supply of the Municipality may, if they consider it necessary, carry such pipes through, across, or under any street or any place laid out or intended for a street, or under any building, or through any cellar or vault, or into, through, or under any enclosed or other land whatsoever. The Council shall, in every such case, give two calendar months’ notice of their intention so to do to the owner of the property affected by such work, and shall on completion of the work pay to him reasonable compensation for any loss or damage sustained by him by reason of the carrying out of any work authorized by this section. If any dispute arises as to the amount or apportionment of such compensation, such amount or apportionment shall be summarily ascertained and determined by the Judge of the Primary Court of Colombo, whose decision shall be subject to an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

(2) Every such appeal shall be presented within the time and in the manner and subject to the rules and practice provided for and observed in appeals from orders of Primary Courts in their ordinary jurisdiction.

Power to lay or enlarge water private street.

16.

(1) If any private street has been constructed to which one or more houses have access, the Council may, after having passed a resolution to that effect, lay, enlarge, or extend a water main along such private street of such dimensions as may be necessary, and may apportion the whole or part of the cost of the laying, enlarging, or extending such main among the owners of the premises fronting upon, adjoining, abutting, or having access to, or deriving any degree of benefit from, such main according to the areas of the respective premises which may derive, or be so situated as to derive, any such benefit from the laying, enlarging, or extending of the said main.

(2) The initial cost of laying, enlarging, or extending such main shall be borne by the Council, and the property in the said main shall remain in the Council.

(3) The sums apportioned for payment by the owners of the respective premises shall be made a charge upon such premises, and may be recovered as if the same were a rate upon a private water service being granted to such premises; and no private service shall be granted to such premises until the sum apportioned in respect thereof has been paid or an engagement to pay the same be made with the Council as hereinafter provided.

(4) When any premises in any such private street has an already existing supply of water from the Council’s mains by private pipes, the Council may, whenever it shall become necessary to take up such private pipes for cleaning or renewal, call upon the owner to connect with the new main.

(5) The Council may, if it is thought fit, on the application of an owner of any such premises, take an engagement from the said owner for the payment by instalments of such sums as will be sufficient to defray the whole amount of the sum apportioned for payment by the said owner, with interest thereon not exceeding the rate of nine per centum per annum, within a period not exceeding five years, and such sums when due may be recovered by the same process by which rates may be recovered under the Municipal Councils Ordinance.

(6)

(a) In any case where any existing main has been laid in any private street at the expense of any private person, it shall be lawful for such person to recover from the owner or owners of any property fronting upon, adjoining, abutting on, or having access to such private street, who shall apply to the Council for a private service of water, such an apportionment of the cost of the laying of the said main as may be determined by the Mayor in proportion to the frontage of the premises abutting on such street.

(b) No person shall be permitted to make a connection with any such main until he has paid or given a guarantee for the payment of such apportionment to the satisfaction of such private person.

(7)

(i) When any premises fronting upon, adjoining, abutting on, or having access to any such private street has an existing supply of water from the Council’s mains by private pipes other than the main which has been laid at the cost of any private person aforesaid, the owner of such premises may be permitted to use such pipes until such time as it shall become necessary to take up such pipes for cleaning or renewal.

(ii) When it shall become necessary to take up such pipes for cleaning or renewal, the owner of the said premises shall not be permitted to re-lay such pipes in their former position, but shall connect them with the main in the private street laid by the private person aforesaid, and shall, before any connection is made therewith, pay such apportionment of the cost of laying the aforesaid main as shall be determined by the Mayor in proportion to the frontage of the premises abutting on such street.

(8) All mains laid in any private street shall vest in the Council, and the cost of their maintenance, renewal, and repair shall be borne by the Council.

(9) Subject to the provisions of subsection (10), any apportionment, made under subsection (1), of the cost of laying, enlarging or extending any main, may be revised by the Council at any time after the date of the completion of the work of laying, enlarging or extending such main.

(10) The power given to the Council in subsection (9) to revise any apportionment shall not be deemed to include the power to increase the sum which any owner is liable to pay under such apportionment.

Power of the Council to exempt division, house, or land from charge for water.

17. The Municipal Council may, with the consent of the Minister, from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, exempt any division or part of a division of the or Municipality, or any house, land, or tenement in which the general facilities afforded by the water supply are not fully available, from the payment of the water-rate, if any, leviable under the provisions of the Municipal Councils Ordinance, or of such proportion of the consolidated rate leviable under the said Ordinance as may be assessed in respect of such water supply and may also, from time to time, revoke such exemption by like notification.

Right of rate payers to freeuse of water from public stand-pipes for domastic purposes.

18. Every person paying the water or consolidated rate leviable under the provisions of the Municipal Councils Ordinance shall be entitled to have, free of further charge in respect thereof, a supply of water from the public stand-pipes for the domestic use of himself and his household.

” Domestic purposes “,what not included in.

19. A supply of water for domestic ” Domestic purposes shall not include a supply of water for horses or cattle or for washing vehicles, where such horses, cattle, or vehicles are kept for sale or hire, or a supply for any trade, manufacture, or business, or for fountains or swimming baths, or for any ornamental or mechanical purpose, or for purposes of irrigation,

External taps.

20.

(1) Where a person who is provided with a supply of water for domestic purposes or is allowed a private service of water for such purposes desires to use the water for horses or cattle or for washing vehicles, the Council may, if such water is supplied through an external tap, charge for such supply (except where the water so used is taken by meter) such sum as the Council may, from time to time, by regulation prescribe.

(2) Where water supplied by the Council to a person who takes a supply both for domestic purposes and by meter for other than domestic purposes is used by him by means of an external tap for horses or cattle or for washing vehicles, the Council may require that all water used by means of such tap shall be taken by meter and paid for at the rates for the time being in force for the supply of water by meter.

(3) Any sum chargeable under this section may be recovered as if it were a tax imposed under the Municipal Councils Ordinance.

(4) In this section-

” horses “, ” cattle ” or ” vehicles ” does not include horses, cattle, or vehicles which are kept for sale or hire;

” external tap” means any tap fixed outside any building or in any garage, stables or other premises where horses, cattle or vehicles are kept;

“person” includes the Government and the armed forces.(* See section 323 of the Municipal Councils Ordinance for the application of this section to Galle.)

Power of Municipal Council to supply water for other than domestic purposes.

21 The Council may agree with any person to supply water by meter or otherwise for other than domestic purposes, in such manner and in such quantities, on such terms, and subject to such conditions and to such regulations as may from time to time be determined and made by the Council.

Recovery of sums due on account of water so supplied.

22. All sums due on account of any water supplied under section 21 shall, when certified by the Waterworks Engineer, be recovered by the Council as if the same were a tax under the Municipal Councils Ordinance, and any existing or future amending enactments, and shall be accounted for as the Council may direct under the regulations hereto.

Meters.

23. All meters shall be the property of the Council, and shall be supplied and maintained in repair by the Council; and rent for the meter shall be paid by the owner or occupier of the premises supplied through the meter in the manner and at the rate prescribed by regulations under this Ordinance.

Liability of the Council for failure to supply water.

24. The Council shall not be liable to any damages or penalty for failure on their part to supply water (whether they have contracted to supply the same or not) if such failure is due to unusual drought, or to any temporary interference with the supply caused by carrying out any work, or to any other unavoidable cause or accident.(See section 323 of the Municipal Councils Ordinance for the application of this section to Galle.)

Power of Waterworks Engineer to enter and examine premises.

25. The Waterworks Engineer or any person authorized in that behalf by him may, at any time between eight of the clock in the morning and five of the clock in the evening, after giving not less than one hour’s notice to the occupier of any building or premises supplied with water under this Ordinance, enter such building or premises and examine the condition of the pipes, works, and fittings, and ascertain if there be any waste or misuse of such water. If the Waterworks Engineer or any person authorized by him is at any such time without reasonable cause refused admittance into such building or premises for the purpose aforesaid, or is prevented without reasonable cause from making such examination, the Waterworks Engineer may stop the supply of water to such building or premises.

Penalty for suffering pipes, & c., to be out of repair.

26. If any person supplied with water from the waterworks wilfully or negligently causes or suffers any pipe, valve, cock, cistern, soil pan, water-closet, or other apparatus or receptacle to be out of repair, or to be so used or contrived that the water supplied to him from the waterworks is or is likely to be wasted, misused, unduly consumed, or contaminated, or so as to occasion or allow the return of foul air or other noisome or impure matter into any pipe belonging to or connected with the pipes of the waterworks, he shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

Power of Waterworks Engineer to repair pipes & c.. and recover expenses.

27. The Waterworks Engineer may repair or renew or substitute any pipe, valve, cock, cistern, soil pan, water-closet, or other apparatus or receptacle, so as to prevent any waste of water, and the expense of such repair or renewal or substitution when certified under his hand, shall be defrayed by the owner or occupier of the premises, and the same may be recovered by the Council as if it were a tax payable under the Municipal Councils Ordinance, and any existing or future amending enactments, and when recovered shall be accounted for as the Council may direct.

Misuse of water.

28. Every person who;

(a) not having a supply of water from the waterworks for other than domestic purposes, uses for other than domestic purposes any water supplied to him from the waterworks; or

(b) having from the waterworks a supply of water for any other than domestic purposes, uses for any purposes other than those for which he is entitled to use the same any water supplied to him from the waterworks,

Penalty.

shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty rupees, without prejudice to the right of the Council to recover from him the value of the water misused.

Penalty for affixing pipe or apparatus to communication or other pipe without the consent of the Waterworks Engineer.

29. It shall not be lawful for the owner or occupier of any premises supplied with water from the waterworks, or any consumer of the water of the waterworks, or any other person, to affix or cause or permit to be affixed any pipe or apparatus to any pipe or apparatus provided for the conveyance, reception, or control of water from the waterworks, whether or not such pipe or apparatus is the property of the Council or private property, without the consent in every such case of the Waterworks Engineer; ‘and if any person acts in any respect in contravention of the provisions of this section, he shall, for every such offence, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, without prejudice to the right of the Council to recover damages from him in respect of any injury done to the waterworks property, and without prejudice to their right to recover from him the value of any water wasted, misused, or unduly consumed.

Penalty for supplying water to, or permitting it to be taken from supplied premises by, any other person.

30. Every owner or occupier of any premises supplied with water under this Ordinance, who shall supply to any other person or wilfully permit him to take any such water from any cistern or pipe in such premises, unless for the purpose of extinguishing any fire, or unless he be a person supplied with water from the waterworks, and the pipes supplying him be, without his default, out of repair, shall be guilty of an offence, and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

Penalty for taking or using water from reservoir, & c

31. Every person who wrongfully takes or uses any water from any reservoir, watercourse, conduit, or pipe belonging to the waterworks, or from any pipe leading to or from any such reservoir, watercourse, conduit, or pipe, or from any cistern or other like place containing water belonging to or supplied from the waterworks, or for the use of any consumer of the water of the waterworks, other than such as may have been provided for the gratuitous use of the public, shall be guilty of an offence punishable with a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

Penalty for destroying or injuring works, & c,, and wasting water.

32. Every person who, without the authority of the Waterworks Engineer, shall wilfully or carelessly break, injure, open, close, or wrongfully interfere or tamper with any lock, hydrant, cock, valve, pipe, work, or engine belonging to the waterworks, or shall draw off the water from the reservoirs or other works belonging to the waterworks, or shall do any other wilful act whereby such water shall be wasted, or the supply thereof interfered with, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

Power of Waterworks Engineer to cut off water supply in certain cases.

33. If any person supplied with water from the waterworks does or causes or permits to be done anything in contravention of any of the provisions of this Ordinance, or of the regulations made hereunder, or wrongfully fails to do anything which under any of those provisions ought to be done for the prevention of the waste, misuse, undue consumption, or contamination of the water belonging to the waterworks, the Waterworks Engineer may (without prejudice to any remedy against such person in respect thereof) cut off any of the pipes by or through which water is supplied to such person or for his use, and may cease to supply him with water.(; See section 323 of the Municipal Councils Ordinance for the application of this section to Galle.)

Waterworks Engineer or his agents may enter any building or premises for cuttingoff water supply.

34. In all cases in which the Waterworks Engineer is by this Ordinance authorized to cut off or stop the supply of water to any building or premises, and in all cases in which any building or premises supplied with water by the Council shall have become unoccupied, the Waterworks Engineer, his agents and workmen, after giving reasonable notice to the owner or occupier, may enter such building or premises between the hours of eight of the clock in the morning and five of the clock in the evening and cut off any pipes by which such water is conveyed to such premises, and may remove any pipe, meter, fittings, and apparatus, the property of The Council.

Penalty for fouling water,& c

35. Every person who shall commit any of the offences next hereinafter enumerated shall for every such offence be punished with a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, that is to say :-

(a) bathing in any stream, reservoir, aqueduct, or other waterworks belonging to the Council, or washing, throwing, or causing to enter therein any dog or other animal;

(b) throwing any rubbish, dirt, filth, or other noisome thing into any such stream, reservoir, aqueduct, hydrant, surface-box, or other waterworks as aforesaid, or washing or cleansing therein any cloth, wool, leather, or skin of any animal, or any clothes or other thing;

(c) trespassing upon land belonging to the waterworks or upon the buildings or premises connected with the water supply ;

(d) unlawfully breaking, injuring, or in any other manner causing damage to any channel, tank, reservoir, cistern, well, fountain, stand-pipe, or other work connected with the water supply;

(e) causing the water of any sink, sewer, or drain, steam engine, boiler, or other water belonging to him or under his control, to run or be brought into any stream, reservoir, aqueduct, or other waterworks belonging to the Council, or doing any other act whereby the water belonging to the waterworks shall be fouled;

and every such person shall be liable to a further fine of ten rupees for each day (if more than one) that such last-mentioned offence shall be continued.

Penalty for doing any act connected with any business by which the water in any stream, & c, belonging to the waterworks is fouled.

36.

(1) Whoever, being the owner, superintendent, agent, manager, or occupier of any premises in which any business is carried on does or causes to be done any act connected with such business by which the water in any stream, reservoir, cistern, aqueduct, or other work belonging to the waterworks is or is likely to be fouled, shall be guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction, notwithstanding the provisions of section 35, to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, and a further fine not exceeding five hundred rupees for each day on which the offence is continued after the expiration of twenty-four hours after a notice signed by the Waterworks Engineer is served on any such person.

(2) The Waterworks Engineer or any person authorized by him in writing in that behalf may, with the permission of the Mayor, after the expiration of twenty-four hours after a notice signed by the Waterworks Engineer of his intention so to do has been served on such owner, superintendent, agent, manager, or occupier, lay open and examine any pipe or work directly or indirectly connected with such premises, and any stream, reservoir, cistern, aqueduct, or other work belonging to the waterworks.

Cost of laying open pipes to abide the result of the examination.

37. If upon such examination it appears that any water has been fouled by anything proceeding from or contained in the pipe or works examined, the expenses of such examination shall be paid by the person to whom such pipes or works belong, or under whose management or control they are. If upon such examination it appears that such water has not been so fouled, then such expenses shall be borne by the Council.

Waterworks Engineer to place and maintain fire hydrant.

38. The Waterworks Engineer shall, at the request and expense of the owner or occupier of any work or manufactory situated in any street in which there is a pipe of the waterworks, place and maintain in effective order a fire hydrant (to be used only for extinguishing fires) as near to such work or manufactory as the Waterworks Engineer thinks fit.

Regulations.

39. The regulations in the Schedule shall be observed within the Municipality, and it shall be lawful for the Council to make, from time to time, such further regulations as may appear expedient for any of the following purposes:-

(a) for preventing waste, misuse, undue consumption, or contamination of the water supplied by the Council for public or private use;

(b) for directing the use and prescribing the size, nature, strength, and materials, and the mode of arrangement, position, alteration, removal, renewal, and repair of the pipes, valves, cocks, cisterns, soil pans, water-closets, and other apparatus and receptacles, or any of them, to be used respectively for carrying, delivering, regulating, and storing water;

(c) for establishing, maintaining, and regulating public bathing places and places for washing animals or clothes;

(d) for regulating the public supply of water by stand-pipes, and the use of the same;

(e) for regulating the supply of water by private services, and the materials and fittings to be used therefor;

(f) for licensing plumbers for the purposes of section II, and for prescribing the security to be furnished by licensed plumbers, the fees payable for, and the conditions to be attached to, licences issued in that connexion, including the cancellation of such licences whether in the absolute discretion of the Waterworks Engineer or in prescribed circumstances;

(g) for regulating the supply of water by measurement, and the materials, meters, appliances, and fittings used for such a purpose and in connexion therewith;

(h) for regulating the terms and conditions subject to which water will be supplied for other than domestic purposes, and the price to be paid for water so supplied ; and

(i) for every other purpose relating to the supply or control of water supplied from the waterworks as to the Council shall appear necessary.

Power of the Council to alter regulations.

40, The Council may, from time to time Power of the alter, amend, or cancel any regulations or Council to all such regulations, and substitute another or others therefor not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance :

Provided that no regulation shall be repugnant to any law in force in Sri Lanka, and that no fine for any infringement of a regulation shall exceed fifty rupees, and that in case of a continuing infringement no fine shall exceed ten rupees for each day after written notice from the Mayor of the Council of such infringement.

Confirmation of regulations by Minister.

41. No regulation or alteration, Confirmation amendment, or cancellation of, or substitution for, any regulation shall have effect until the same is confirmed by the Minister. Notice of such confirmation shall be given by notification to be made in that behalf; and such regulations when so confirmed and published in the Gazette shall be as valid and effectual as if they had been herein enacted.

Penalty for breach of regulations.

42. Every person committing a breach of any of the regulations contained in the Schedule or made under sections 39 and 40 hereof shall be guilty of an offence, and shall, subject to the provision of section 40 hereof regarding continuing infringement of regulations, be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or, in the case of regulations made under sections 39 and 40 hereof, to such fine as may be prescribed therein.

Service of notices.

43. When any notice is required by this Ordinance to be given to the owner or to the occupier of any house, building, or land, such notice addressed to the owner or occupier may be served on the occupier of such house, building, or land, or left with some adult member or servant of his family, or if the notice cannot be so served, or if there be no occupier, may be put up on some conspicuous part of such house, building, or land; and it shall not be necessary in any such notice to name the occupier or the owner. Any person receiving the rent of any house, building, or land, either on his own account or as agent for another, shall, for the purposes of this Ordinance, be deemed the owner of such house, building, or land.

Jurisdiction to the Municipal Magistrate or the Magistrate of Colombo to entertain prosecutions.

44. Every prosecution under this Ordinance may be instituted before the Municipal Magistrate or the Magistrate of the Magistrate’s Court of Colombo; and every fine imposed under this Ordinance, or any regulation made in pursuance thereof, may be recovered by a summary proceeding before either of such Magistrates. It shall be lawful for either of such Magistrates to impose the full fine or penalty herein or in any regulation provided, notwithstanding that the aggregate amount of such fines or penalties may exceed the sum which it is competent for him in the exercise of his summary jurisdiction to award.

Power of Minister to appoint special officer to report in certain cases.

45. If at any time it appears to the Minister that the Council are omitting to fulfill any duty or carry out any work imposed upon them by this Ordinance, he shall give notice to the Council in writing that, unless they do, within fifteen days of the date of such notice, show cause to his satisfaction against such appointment, he will appoint a special officer to inquire and report to him the facts of the case, and to recommend what steps such officer thinks necessary for the purpose of fulfilling such duty or carrying out such work. Such inquiry shall be conducted as far as may be practicable in an open manner.

Power of Minister to council to execute anywork.

46. On the receipt of the report of the officer appointed under section 45 the Minister shall determine what duty or work shall be done or executed, and make an order requiring the Council within a time to be specified in such order to fulfill such duty or carry out such work, and to raise the funds necessary for such duty or work from some one or more of the taxes provided by the Municipal Councils Ordinance or by means of a loan.

Enforcement of order.

47. If the Council fail within such specified time to comply with such order, the Minister may direct the Mayor or appoint any other person to fulfill such duty or carry out such work, and may fix the remuneration to be paid to such person, and may direct that such remuneration and the cost of such work shall be defrayed out of the Municipal Fund.


Schedules