Section 37, The Concessions Ordinance

No person shall in the course of mining or ..... ,.,.._.,r,onT.loperations upon any land which is subject to a concession in any works connected therewith pollute or permit to become polluted the water of any river, stream or watercourse. 38. {I) A District Commissioner and any officer of the .....u.L.Lv~• ••• Geological or Survey Departments may enter upon any land which mining or prospecting operations are being vv•.~u.c~v and which is the subject of a concession, and inspect prospecting or mining operations or any works in corme:ction therewith. (2) The Chief Inspector of Mines may inspect and take of or extracts from any books, papers, plans and documents dealing with prospecting or mining operations and required by this Ordinance to be kept. (3) The Chief Inspector of Mines or the Geologist or any person authorised in writing by either of such officers may at any time ...................... a,Illples, make surveys and perform any ?perations that •······•. · s deem necessary for the purpose of making a report on be IIlaY d - h lan ·suo 9 (l} If an accident shall occur in any mine or in connection tccidents jo .3 ·the ruining or prospecting operations conducted on land e reporte · ~t~ h is the subject of a concession involving loss of life or wh: 0 s injury to any person the holder of the concession shall serlo~ the same as soon as possible to the Chief Inspector of ~Jkes and to the District Commissioner. - I this sub-section the expression" serious injury" means an ..:ry likely to result in the injured person being incapacitated :~ru doing his usual work for at least fourteen days. (2) (a} In the event of any such accident the Chief Inspector f :Mines or in the absence of the Chief Inspector of Mines, an Inspector of Mines, a District Commissioner or any other officer appointed by the Governor in that behalf shall hold an inquiry into the cause thereof. (b) The findings of the officer holding the said inquiry shall be sent to the Governor and a copy thereof shall be sent to the holder of the concession. (3) Where such an inquiry is held and the person killed or injured is a tributer- (a) if it is shown that the holder of the concession or his agent has been guilty of negligence, or has not taken all reasonable and proper precautions to prevent such accident; or (b) if the person killed or injured is a native of Sierra Leone employed in the mine or in connection with the mining or prospecting operations, and the holder of the concession or his agent shall fail to satisfy the officer holding the inquiry that the accident is attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of such native, the officer holding the inquiry may award such compensation as he deem to be just to such relatives of the deceased as he may think fit or to the injured person: Provided that the amount of any compensation awarded under this section shall not exceed that which would have been ~ecoverable under the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, Cap. 219. ad the person killed or injured been entitled to compensation under that Ordinance. S.L.-VoL. III-5 Cap. 196. Cap. 121] Concessions Ill (4) If any person to whom the compensation is awarded unde:r I sub-section (3) is unwilling to accept the amount of compensa.3\ tion awarded in full settlement of all claims which he may have\ by reason of the accident against the person ordered to pay th@\ same, he may refuse to accept the same and take against such. i person such proceedings, if any, as may be open to him apart : from this Ordinance. If the person who is ordered to pay conh\ pensation is dissatisfied with the decision of the officer who has i held the inquiry, he may, within fourteen days of the date on. which he has notice of the award and is informed that the person.·: to whom compensation has been awarded will accept the same ·• appeal to the Governor whose decision shall be final: ' • Provided that the Governor may, if he thinks fit, direct that I the matter in dispute shall be determined by arbitration or ill.•••::• the courts. • ! (5) If there has been no appeal to the Governor within th~ \ time specified above, or if there having been an appeal com-8\ pensation is awarded, the person directed to pay compensatio:rl• shall pay the amount awarded to the officer who held the inquiry • or to his successor in office for transmission to the person <:>$ \ persons entitled thereto, and if the same is not paid withiP, \ fourteen days of having been required so to do by the Governor; .\ or by some public officer authorised by the Governor so to require; • such person shall forfeit five hundred pounds recoverable in tM • Supreme Court, at the instance of the Attorney General, as aU• civil debt. · ' Provided that nothing in this section contained shall relieve I any person from the liability to be proceeded against for any \ offence committed by him. H\ (6) The Chief Inspector of Mines, the District Commissioner•! or other officer appointed by the Governor under sub-sectioiJ.n! (2) of this section shall, for the purpose of any inquiry under ~ sub-section (2), have the powers of the Supreme Court tq ~ summon witnesses, to call for the production of books and • documents, and examine witnesses and parties concerned on \ 0~ 1 All summonses may be in the form set out in the First I Schedule to the Minerals Ordinance, and shall be served by aU. constable or by such person as the officer issuing the same may \ direct. ···· (7) Any person summoned to attend or to produce books or documents as aforesaid, and. refusing or neglecting to do so, 1'/ sing to answer any question put to him by or with the or refurence of the officer holding the inquiry, shall be liable co:n.c!wary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds: o:n. s ovided that no pers~n shall be bound to !ncri~ate hims~lf, r very witness shall, ill respect of any eVIdence g1ven by him a.:n. e h inquiry, be entitled to the privileges to which he would a.t sucbeen entitled if giving evidence before a court. ha.ve (S) Witnesses attending at the request of or upon summons n officer holding such inquiry shall, subject to any order bY ;e by such officer, be entitled to the like expenses as if ~oned to attend the Supreme Court in a criminal trial and 8. ,nnent shall be made in such manner as the Governor may p&J- direct. (9) Any interested party may appear at any inquiry either i:n. person or by legal representative and may question the witnesses and call witnesses on his own behalf on all matters relevant to the subject of the inquiry. Any person whom an interested party desires to call as a witness on his own behalf shall be summoned by the officer holding the inquiry to attend the said inquiry and give evidence thereat. (10) Where after an inquiry has been held under this section any person is aggrieved at the finding thereat (other than in respect of any amount awarded as compensation under subsection (3}} such person may apply to the Supreme Courtfor the inquiry to be reopened and the Court, if satisfied that there are good and sufficient reasons for doing so, may order that the inquiry shall be reopened before itself or any Magistrate, that any additional evidence that is available shall be taken and that the original finding shall then be confirmed or a new finding substituted therefor.