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Golf Courses (Consolidation) Act 1998

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Golf Courses (Consolidation) Act 1998
GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

1

BERMUDA
1998 : 1

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

[Date of Assent 18 March 1998]

[Operative Date 3 April 1998]

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1 Citation and
commencement

2 Interpretation
3 Establishment of Board
4 Delegation to Permanent

Secretary
5 Functions of Board
6 Appointment of officers

and servants
7 Fees
8 Revenue to be sufficient
9 Services of Government

departments

10 Application of funds
11 Restriction on borrowing
12 Accounts and audit
13 Annual report
14 Exemption from land tax
15 Repeals
16 Savings and transitional
17 Consequential

amendment

SCHEDULE
The Board of Trustees

WHEREAS it is expedient to consolidate the statutory provisions
which relate to golf courses owned by the Bermuda Government, to
provide for a single Board of Trustees to manage such golf courses, and
to make connected provision:

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

2

Be it enacted by The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate and the House of Assembly of
Bermuda, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Citation and commencement
1 This Act may be cited as the Golf Courses (Consolidation) Act
1998, and shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may
appoint by notice published in the Gazette.

Interpretation
2 In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

"Auditor" means the person appointed to the public office of
Auditor established under section 101 of the Constitution;

"Board" means the Board of Trustees of the Golf Courses
established under section 3(1);

"Golf Courses" means the Port Royal Golf Course, the Ocean
View Golf Course and the St. George's Golf Course together
with the buildings erected thereon and equipment, furniture
and effects appurtenant thereto heretofore respectively
regulated by the repealed Acts and vested in the Bermuda
Government under those Acts;

"Minister" means the Minister charged with responsibility for
Works and Engineering;

"repealed Acts" means the Acts specified in section 15.

Establishment of Board
3 (1) There is hereby established a Board to be known as the
"Board of Trustees of the Golf Courses" which shall have the powers and
perform the functions assigned to it under this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual
succession and a common seal with power to sue and be sued in its
corporate name.

(3) Fees shall be paid to the members of the Board in
accordance with the provisions of the Government Authorities (Fees) Act
1971.

(4) The Schedule has effect with respect to the constitution and
proceedings of the Board.

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

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Delegation to Permanent Secretary
4 Without prejudice to any provision of law relating to the delega-
tion of any power or duty of a Minister to a public officer, the Minister
may delegate any of his functions under this Act to the Permanent Sec-
retary responsible for the Department of Works and Engineering other
than the functions mentioned in sections 5(3), 6, 10 and 13(1).

Functions of Board
5 (1) The functions of the Board are—

(a) to have the general control, management and
administration of the Golf Courses; and

(b) to maintain the Golf Courses in good and proper
condition.

(2) The Board may call upon the Financial Secretary, the
Permanent Secretary assigned to the Ministry responsible for the
Department of Works and Engineering, the Permanent Secretary
assigned to the Ministry responsible for matters relating to the
environment, and such officers from the government departments
responsible for tourism and sport as it thinks fit, for such advice and
assistance as it may consider desirable for the proper discharge of its
functions, and any such officer shall provide the advice and assistance
sought.

(3) The Minister may, after consultation with the Board, give to
the Board such general directions as to policy to be followed by the
Board in the performance of its functions as appear to the Minister to be
necessary in the public interest and the Board shall give effect to such
directions.

Appointment of officers and servants
6 (1) Subject to the appropriation by the Legislature of the requi-
site funds, the Board shall appoint or employ, at such remuneration and
on such terms and conditions as may be approved by the Minister, such
officers and servants as it thinks necessary for the proper operation of
the Golf Courses.

(2) The Governor may, subject to such conditions as he may
impose, and acting on the advice of the Minister, approve the
appointment of any public officer in the service of the Government by
way of secondment to any office with the Board, and any public officer so
appointed shall, in relation to pension, gratuity or other allowance and to
other rights and obligations as a public officer, be treated as continuing
in the service of the Government.

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

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Fees
7 (1) Subject to any arrangements or agreements between the
Government and any other person for the use of the Golf Courses, the
Board shall, with the prior approval of the Minister, fix the green fees
payable for the use of each Golf Course and any other fees or charges in
respect of the hire of equipment or otherwise incidental to the operation
of each Golf Course.

(2) The Board, with the prior approval of the Minister, shall—

(a) fix the prices to be charged for food and drink provided
at the Golf Courses; and, where applicable,

(b) approve the prices to be charged for food and drink if the
Board enters into an agreement with a person for the
provision by that person of any food or drink.

Revenue to be sufficient
8 The Board shall administer the Golf Courses and shall levy such
fees and other charges under section 7 as will result in—

(a) the revenue of the Board being sufficient, taking one
year with another, to meet the expenditure of the
trustees including depreciation and amortisation
charges; and

(b) the earned surplus of the Board not falling into a deficit
position.

Services of Government Departments
9 The Board may, with the approval of the Minister responsible for
providing the services and subject to the availability of such services,
make use of any services offered by a Government department for the
maintenance of the land or buildings of the Golf Courses and, if any
such services are employed on behalf of the Board, the cost of the
services shall be charged to the accounts of the Board and shall be paid
to the Government department concerned.

Application of funds
10 (1) Any proposed capital development expenditure shall be
subject to the prior approval of the Minister and the Minister of Finance
and shall be included in the Annual or Supplementary Estimates.

(2) Any funds appropriated by the Legislature for the operation
or maintenance of the Golf Courses or for capital development shall be
applied, subject to the terms of the appropriation, in accordance with —

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

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(a) any instructions issued by the Minister of Finance or
any direction issued by him under section 3(1) of the
Public Treasury (Administration and Payments) Act
1969; or

(b) any other instructions issued by the Minister.

Restriction on borrowing
11 The Board shall not borrow any money for the purpose of
meeting any of its obligations or discharging any of its functions under
this Act without first obtaining the written approval of the Minister of
Finance.

Accounts and audit
12 (1) The Board shall keep proper accounts relating to the
operation of the Golf Courses and the accounts shall be maintained in
such manner as the Accountant General may direct.

(2) All sums received by the Board by way of fees or other
charges under section 7 shall be paid into the Board's accounts and all
disbursements approved by the Board shall be paid out of those
accounts.

(3) The Accountant General shall from time to time produce or
cause to be produced such reports and other financial information as
may be required by the Board to enable the Board to perform its
functions under this Act.

(4) The accounts of the Board shall be audited annually by the
Auditor.

Annual report
13 (1) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the end of
each financial year, make to the Minister a report on—

(a) the exercise and performance of the functions assigned
to it under this Act during that year; and

(b) its policy and programme.

(2) The Minister shall cause a copy of every such report made
to him under subsection (1) to be laid before each House of the
Legislature within a reasonable time.

(3) The report made under subsection (1) for any year shall set
out any directions given by the Minister to the Board during that year
and shall include—

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

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(a) the audited financial statement together with the
Auditor's report thereon; and

(b) a statement setting out the scales of salaries and wages
paid to officers and servants of the Golf Courses ap-
pointed by the Board.

Exemption from land tax
14 (1) The Board shall not be subject to land tax.

(2) The exemption granted to the Board from land tax shall not
enure to the benefit of any lessee or tenant of the Board, and any such
lessee or tenant shall be liable to land tax under the Land Valuation and
Tax Act 1967 as if he were the owner of the premises the subject of his
lease or letting, whatever the term of the lease or letting.

Repeals
15 The following statutes are repealed—

(a) the Port Royal Golf Course Act 1970;

(b) the Ocean View Golf Course Act 1985; and

(c) the St. George's Golf Club Act 1985.

Savings and transitional
16 (1) Upon the date of coming into operation of this Act the
former Boards of Trustees of the Golf Courses ("former Board") shall be
dissolved and—

(a) an officer or servant who, prior to the coming into
operation of this Act, was appointed or employed by a
former Board shall be deemed to be so appointed or
employed under this Act and the provisions of section 6
shall apply accordingly;

(b) any assets and liabilities of a former Board shall be
transferred to and vest in the Board without further
assurance and the Board shall have all powers
necessary to take possession of, and recover and deal
with such assets and discharge such liabilities;

(c) every agreement, whether in writing or not, and every
deed, bond or other instrument to which a former Board
was a party or which affected a former Board, and
whether or not of such a nature that the rights, liabilities
and obligations thereunder could be assigned, shall have
effect as if—

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

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(i) the Board were a party thereto or affected
thereby instead of a former Board; and

(ii) for every reference, however worded and whether
express or implied, therein to a former Board
there were substituted in respect of anything to
be done on or after such date of coming into
operation a reference to the Board;

(d) any proceedings pending immediately before such date
to which a former Board was a party shall be continued
as if the Board were a party thereto in lieu of a former
Board.

(2) In this section "former Board" means any one or more of the
former Boards of Trustees of the Golf Courses, as the case may be.

Consequential amendment
17 In Part B of the First Schedule to the Government Authorities
(Fees) Act 1971 (members of certain bodies entitled to remuneration for
attending meetings)—

(a) at the appropriate place in alphabetical order there shall
be inserted—

"Board of Trustees of the Golf Courses, established
under section 3 of the Golf Courses
(Consolidation) Act 1998"; and

(b) the entries relating to the Queen's Park Golf Course
Trustees, the Port Royal Golf Course Trustees and the St
George's Golf Club Trustees shall be deleted.

SCHEDULE (section 3)

The Board of Trustees

1 The Board shall consist of not fewer than seven and not more
than eleven members.

2 Subject to paragraph 5, members of the Board shall be
appointed annually by the Minister to hold office for a period not
exceeding one year commencing on the date of such appointment.

3 A person appointed as a member of the Board may be
reappointed, so however, that the period of reappointment of a member

GOLF COURSES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1998

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shall not, in total, exceed five years commencing on the date on which
his first reappointment takes effect.

4 The Minister shall appoint one of the members of the Board to be
the Chairman, and another to be the Deputy Chairman.

5 The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of a
member of the Board.

6 The names of the members of the Board as first constituted and
any change in the membership thereof shall be published in the Gazette.

7 If at any time a member of the Board or the Chairman is, by
reason of absence from Bermuda, ill health or other sufficient cause,
unable to perform his duties as such, the Minister may appoint another
person to act as a member or, as the case may be, as Chairman, during
the incapacity of the substantive member or Chairman, and any person
so appointed shall, while so acting, be deemed for the purposes of this
Act to be a member or, as the case may be, the Chairman of the Board.

8 Subject to paragraph 7, if at any meeting of the Board the
Chairman is absent, the Deputy Chairman shall preside over the
meeting, and if both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are absent,
then the members present shall elect one member of the Board to act as
Chairman at that meeting.

9 A majority of the members of the Board in Bermuda at the date
of any meeting shall constitute a quorum thereat if that majority
amounts to at least five members.

10 Every question or matter to be determined by the Board at any
meeting shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the members
present and voting on that question or matter, but in the event of an
equal division of votes, the Chairman may give a second or casting vote.

11 Subject to paragraphs 8, 9 and 10, the Board shall have power
to regulate its own procedure.