Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2023)

PART 2
REGISTRATION OF HOLDINGS

3.   Registration and application therefor

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   (1)   Any person who desires to register any parcel or parcels of land as a holding shall make application therefor in duplicate in the form and manner and containing the particulars set out in Form I in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

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   (2)   Every application for registration shall be delivered at the office of the Authority to its appropriate agent.

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   (3)   Immediately upon delivery of any application for registration in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Part of these regulations, the appropriate agent shall acknowledge receipt of the application by affixing at the foot of the original and duplicate copy of the application his or her signature and the date thereof and shall thereupon return the duplicate copy of the application to its bearer.

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   (4)   The Authority shall cause a proper record to be kept of the originals of all applications for registration.

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   (5)   A parcel of land shall be deemed to be registered as a holding from the moment of acknowledgement of receipt of the application for registration thereof in accordance with the provisions of subregulations (1), (2) and (3).

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   (6)   Parcels of land which before the coming into effect of these regulations were treated by the Authority as holdings shall be deemed to have been registered under these Regulations.

4.   Cancellation of registration

Should the Authority discover a misrepresentation in any material particular in any application for registration, the Authority may, by notice served upon the grower, cancel the registration of the holding to which such application relates, and immediately upon service of such notice such parcel or parcels of land shall cease to be a holding.

5.   Issue of registration cards

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   (1)   Upon being satisfied as to the truth of the matter stated in any application for registration, the Authority shall without delay issue to the grower a numbered registration card, which shall contain the names and addresses of the grower and the registered number of the holding to which such application relates.

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   (2)   Cards shall be issued free of charge, but in the event of the loss of a card, the Authority may, on the application of the grower and on payment to the Authority of the sum of $0.25, issue a fresh card in substitution of the lost card.

6.   Possession of cards

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   (1)   A person shall not be or remain in possession of a numbered registration card issued under this Part of these regulations except the following persons namely—

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      (a)     the grower;

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      (b)     an authorised agent of the grower;

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      (c)     the local authority;

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      (d)     the Authority;

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      (e)     an authorised agent of the Authority or the local authority.

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   (2)   The Authority or any authorised agent of the Authority may impound and retain any registration card which was found to be in the possession of any person other than a person entitled to hold such a card by virtue of the provisions of subregulation (1).

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   (3)   The onus shall be on the person who sets himself or herself up as an agent of any grower to prove his or her agency for the purposes of subregulation (1).

7.   Functions of and duties with regard to cards

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   (1)   A registration card shall, so long as the same remains in force, be deemed to be confirmation and conclusive evidence of the registration of the holding to which it relates.

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   (2)   Any person who offers bananas for sale to the local authority, whether at a buying point or at a reception station, or to a dealer shall at the time of such offer, produce for inspection by the local authority or its appropriate agent, the numbered registration card with respect to the holding whence such bananas were reaped.

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   (3)   If a grower offers bananas for sale to the local authority or its appropriate agent and at the time of such offer fails to produce the numbered registration card with respect to the holding whence such bananas were reaped, the local authority or its appropriate agent shall be entitled to reject such offer or to accept same and postpone payment thereunder until good and sufficient cause for the non-production of that registration card shall have been proved to the satisfaction of the local authority or its appropriate agent.

8.   Transfer of possession or control of holdings

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   (1)   The personal representative of a deceased grower shall, so long as the deceased grower's holding remains vested by law in such personal representative, be deemed to be substituted for the deceased grower as the grower.

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   (2)   On the transfer of possession or control of a holding or any part thereof, the person who was the grower immediately before the transfer shall, within 14 days of the transfer, notify the Authority of that transfer and hand over to the Authority the registration card with respect to that holding.

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   (3)   Upon receipt of notification of a transfer of possession or control of a holding or any part thereof as provided for in this Part of these regulations, the Authority shall cancel or revoke the registration card issued with respect to that holding and thereupon that registration card shall cease to be in force.

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   (4)   In the absence of receipt of notification of transfer as provided for in this Part of these regulations the Authority may, if the Authority has reason to believe that a transfer of possession or control of any holding has in fact been effected, serve notice, upon the person who was the grower immediately before such transfer, of the Authority's intention to cancel or revoke the registration card issued with respect to that holding, and if the grower fails within 14 days after service of such notice to prove to the satisfaction of the Authority that no such transfer has in fact been effected, the registration card issued with respect to that holding shall stand cancelled or revoked and shall cease to be in force.

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   (5)   In any case where a registration card has been revoked or cancelled by virtue of the provisions of this Part of these regulations, the Authority shall issue a fresh registration card or cards in favour of the new grower or growers in substitution of the card so revoked or cancelled.

9.   Annual Statements

Every grower shall not later than 28 February in each year deliver at the office of the Authority to the Authority's appropriate agent, a statement in the form and manner and containing the particulars set out in Form II in Schedule 1.