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LAWS OF GUYANA
POOR RELIEF ACT
CHAPTER 36:02
Act
12 of 1903
Amended by
7 of 1905 24 of 1918 40 of 1933 21 of 1938 21 of 1940

1 – 13 ... 1/2012 (inclusive) by L.R.O.
Pages Authorised
Current Authorised Pages
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2 Cap. 36:02 Poor Relief
Note
on
Subsidiary Legislation
This Chapter contains no subsidiary legislation.
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CHAPTER 36:02
POOR RELIEF ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
ADMINISTRATION
3. Constitution of Poor Law Commissioners.
4. Powers of chairman; quorum.
5. Actions by or against the Commissioners.
6. Appointment of officers.
7. Salaries of officers.
8. Orphan asylum may be attached to alms-house.
9. (1) Duties of inspector.
(2) Board minutes.
10. Commissioners may examine persons concerning poor relief.
11. Establishment of districts.
12. Paid officer may not have interest in contract.
13. Rules relating to poor law administration.
ALMS—HOUSES
14. Alms—houses.
15. Vesting in the State of property in alms—house.
16. Order for person requiring relief to be placed in alms—house.
17. Provisions as to property of inmate of alms—house.
18. Refusal of pauper in alms—house to work.
19. Regulation of alms—houses hereafter established.
RELIEF OF THE POOR
20. Payment of expenses of poor relief.
21. Accounts.
22. Register of paupers.
23. Persons entitled to relief.
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SECTION
24. Inquiries into circumstances of recipients.
25. Meetings of local boards.
26. Settlement of relief list.
27. General power of Commissioners to grant relief.
28. Remittances of amount required for poor relief to local boards.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
29. Punishment for giving false evidence.
30. Refusal to attend summons of Commissioners.
31. Procedure and appeal.
__________________________
1929 Ed.
c. 90
1953 Ed.
c. 62 _______________________________________________________
12 of 1903 An Act to make Provision for the Relief of the Poor.
[28TH MARCH, 1903]
Citation.

Interpretation.
[40 of 1933]
1. This Act may be cited as the Poor Relief Act.
2. (1) In this Act—
“board” means the board established by section 3;
“Commissioners” means the Poor Law Commissioners;
“district” means a poor relief district established by the
Minister under section 11(1);
“local board” means a local board of guardians appointed by
the Minister under section 11(4).
CHAPTER 36:02
POOR RELIEF ACT
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c. 28:01
Constitution of
Poor Law
Commissions.
[21 of 1938
21 of 1940]
Powers of
Chairman;
quorum.
[21 of 1938
21 of 1940].
(2) The City of Georgetown includes the area of
Georgetown as defined in the Municipal and District Councils
Act together with any other places which, by order of the
Minister, are from time to time included in the City of
Georgetown for the purposes of this Act.
ADMINISTRATION
3. (1) The administration of relief to the poor and of all
public moneys provided by Parliament for that purpose shall
be vested in a board consisting of not more than nine persons
and called the Poor Law Commissioners.
(2) The members of the board shall be appointed
by the Minister.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), every member of the
board shall hold office for three years from the date of his
appointment and shall be eligible for re-appointment.
(4) The Minister may at any time, if he thinks fit,
terminate the appointment of any member of the board in
case of his absence from Guyana or for any other reason.
(5) The Minister shall appoint any member to be
chairman and may appoint any other member to be deputy
chairman of the Board.
4. (1) The entire executive power and responsibility
for the purposes of this Act shall be vested in the chairman,
and all executive acts hereinafter directed to be done by the
Commissioners or by the board, unless the contrary intention
appears from the context, shall be done by the chairman.
(2) The chairman shall consult the members in all
matters, not being mere matters of routine, before taking
action or making any order, unless the public service would
be prejudiced by delay.
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Actions by or
against the
Commissioners
.

Appointment
of officers.

Salaries of
officers.


Orphan asylum
may be
attached to
alms-house.
(3) At a meeting of Commissioners four of them, of
whom the chairman must be one, shall form a quorum.
(4) In this section “chairman” includes deputy
chairman.
5. All actions or suits by or against the Commissioners
may be brought in the name of the chairman, who may sue
and be sued by or under the style and designation of the
Chairman of the Poor Law Commissioners, and no action or
suit brought, commenced, or prosecuted, by or against the
chairman shall abate or be discontinued by his death:
Provided that the chairman shall be reimbursed and paid
out of moneys provided by Parliament all damages, costs,
charges, and expenses to or with which he may be put or
become chargeable by reason of any action or suit, and he
shall not be personally answerable or liable for the payment
of them or any part of them.
6. (1) There shall be a secretary to the board, an
inspector of the poor for the City of Georgetown, and a
superintendent, a matron, and a surgeon of the alms-house
and any other officers, assistants, and servants necessary for
its efficient management and superintendence.
(2) Any of the officers aforesaid, if the Minister so
directs, shall reside in the alms-house.
7. Everyone appointed to an office under this Act shall
be paid at the rate or from the funds applicable for the
purpose determined or provided by Parliament.
8. The Minister may at any time order that the orphan
asylum shall be attached to the Georgetown alms—house and
be under the control and management of the board.
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Duties of
inspector.
Board minutes.
Commissioners
may examine
persons
concerning
poor relief.

Establishment
of disricts.
[40 of 1933
6 of 1981]
9. (1) The inspector, or other officer directed by the
Commissioners, shall issue to the outdoor paupers of
Georgetown, at the intervals directed by the Minister, the
amount of pecuniary relief allowed to them respectively by
the Commissioners, and the inspector shall perform all other
general duties from time to time ordered by the board.
(2) The secretary shall keep the minutes and
accounts and conduct the correspondence of the board and in
addition perform all other duties assigned to him by the
board.
10. The Commissioners may summon before them
any persons they think necessary for the purpose of being
examined upon any matter relating to poor relief or any other
matter placed by law under their control, or for the purpose
of production and verification upon oath of any books,
contracts, agreements, accounts, maps, plans, surveys,
valuations, or writings, or copies thereof in anywise relating
to that matter, and not relating to or involving any question of
title to lands, tenements, or hereditaments, not being the
property of a parish; and may examine upon oath anyone
whom they so summon, or who voluntarily comes before
them to be examined upon the matter, or, instead of
administering an oath, may require the person examined to
make and subscribe a declaration of the truth of the matter
respecting which he has been or is so examined.
11. (1) The Minister may by notice published in the
Gazette declare and establish in any part of Guyana outside
the City of Georgetown districts for the purposes of
administration of relief to the destitute poor in the district in
the manner hereinafter mentioned.
(2) The notice shall set out the boundaries of every
district.
(3) The Minister may from time to time by notice
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Paid officer
may not have
interest in
contract.
[6 of 1997]

Rules relating
to poor law
administration.
[40 of 1933]
published in the Gazette alter the limits of any district.
(4) The Minister may in any district appoint a local
board consisting of not more than nine and not less than four
persons of whom one shall be appointed chairman. The board
shall be entrusted, under the Commissioners, with the duty of
administering relief within the district.
(5) Every member of a local board shall hold office
for two years subject to prior termination by the Minister for
absence from Guyana or for other reason.
(6) No business shall be transacted by a board
unless a majority of the members is present. The chairman
shall have an original and a casting vote.
12. No commissioner, or officer employed by or under
the Commissioners in the management of an alms—house or
of the out-door poor, in whose hands or under whose control
the maintenance, ordering, management, or direction, of the
destitute poor is placed shall, either in his own name or in the
name of any other person, provide, furnish, or supply, for his
own profit, any materials, goods, or provisions for the use of
the alms—house or the poor during the time for which he acts
or retains his appointment, shall be concerned directly or
indirectly in furnishing or supplying them, or in any contract
relating thereto, nor shall any paid officer on any pretence
whatsoever take or receive, or permit to be taken or received
on his account, any fee or reward from anyone obtaining that
contract, and any commissioner or officer aforesaid who
contravenes this section shall be liable to a fine of forty-eight
thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars.
13. Subject to affirmative resolution of the National
Assembly, the Commissioners, may make rules for—
(a) the good government of any alms—
house;
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Alms—houses.

Vesting in the
State of
property in
alms-house.

Order for
person
requiring relief
to be placed in
alms-house.
Provisions as to
property of
inmate of alms-
house.
(b) regulating the duties of the medical
officer, inspector, superintendent,
matron and all other assistants and
servants;
(c) the repression and punishment of
insubordinate and disorderly conduct
on the part of the inmates, and
imposing fines for the misconduct of
assistants and servants; and
(d) the guidance of the local boards and
any officers employed by the
Commissioners in the administration
of relief to the poor in carrying this
Act into effect.
ALMS—HOUSES
14. The Commissioners shall have the charge, control,
and superintendence of alms-houses in Guyana.
15. All the buildings, furniture, clothing, provisions,
implements, utensils, and supplies, of whatever kind or
description appertaining to or used in any alms—house for
the accommodation or support of the poor shall be deemed
and taken to be the property of the State and are hereby
vested therein.
16. The Commissioners may, if they think fit, order
anyone as a condition of his receiving relief under this Act, or
as a condition of his receiving medical aid at the public
charge, to be placed in an alms—house.
17. (1) Where anyone is admitted into or placed in an
alms-house, all his movable and immovable property shall
ipso facto vest in the Commissioners, who may take any
proceedings necessary for obtaining possession of and
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Refusal of
pauper in alms- house to work.

alms-houses hereafter
established.

Payment of
expenses of
poor relief.

Accounts.
[40 of 1933]
realizing it or any part of it.
(2) The property of which possession is taken by
the Commissioners shall be administered by them for the
support and maintenance of the person while he remains an
inmate of an alms—house.
(3) This section shall apply to any property to
which the person becomes entitled while he is an inmate of an
alms-house.
18. A pauper in an alms-house who is able to perform
any work or service directed by the superintendent, or
matron or other officer, under the rules made by the
Commissioners and refuses to do so, and a pauper who
introduces or attempts to introduce into an alms-house
anything prohibited by the rules, or carries out or attempts to
carry out any provisions, clothing, or other property,
provided for his use or belonging to the State, without being
thereto duly authorised, shall be liable on summary
conviction to imprisonment for sixty days.
19. Any alms-house for the relief of the aged and
infirm poor hereafter established shall be subject to the rules
hereinbefore laid down for alms—houses, but those rules may
in that case be modified by any order made by the
Commissioners under section 13.
RELIEF OF THE POOR
20. All and every the expense to be incurred for relief
of the destitute poor in Guyana shall be paid and defrayed
out of the funds placed for that purpose at the disposal of the
Commissioners.
21. The chairman of every local board shall keep
accounts of its receipts and disbursements for poor relief, and
whenever required by the Commissioners shall produce a
Regulation of
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Register of
paupers.
[40 of 1933]

Persons
entitled to
relief.

Inquiries into
circumstances
of recipients.
[40 of 1933]

Meetings of
local boards.
[40 of 1933]
balance sheet of the accounts.
22. Every local board shall keep a register of the
paupers to whom relief is granted or allowed within its
district in the manner and form directed by the
Commissioners. The register shall be furnished by the
Commissioners.
23. (1) Every aged or infirm person, and every child
under the age of fourteen years, children in any training
school excepted, who is destitute and unable to earn sufficient
for his maintenance, shall be entitled to relief from the funds
at the disposal of the Commissioners.
(2) Where relief has been afforded to anyone under
this section and he is the owner of, or possesses, or inherits, or
acquires in any way, or dies leaving property, the
Commissioners shall be entitled to recover the amount of the
relief so afforded from him or his estate, and the signature of
the secretary to the board subscribed to any document setting
forth or containing a statement of the amount claimed or due
shall, without proof of the signature or of any other matter or
thing, be held and be deemed to be in all courts and by all
judges and magistrates prima facie evidence of the amount
claimed being in every particular correct.
24. The Commissioners whenever they deem it
expedient may place at the disposal of a local board one or
more paid inquirers for the purpose of inquiring into the
circumstances of any recipient of poor relief and every
applicant therefor; and the local board is hereby authorised to
require for any such purpose the assistance of every
Government Medical Officer, police constable, rural
constable, bailiff or other public officer within its district.
25. (1) There shall be a meeting of every local board in
the months of January and July in each year for the purpose
of considering the cases of every recipient of and every
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Settlement of
relief list.
[40 of 1933]

General power
of
Commissioners
to grant relief.
Remittances of
amount
required for
poor relief to
local boards.
[40 of 1933]


Punishment for
giving false
evidence.
applicant for poor relief within its district, along with the
reports of the inquiries made into their circumstances, and the
board shall upon consideration of the reports, and upon
personal inspection where necessary and practicable, fix the
amount of relief to be given to every applicant, or direct that
the relief previously issued be increased or reduced or
discontinued.
(2) The chairman of a local board may summon a
meeting of the board at any time for the purpose of
considering necessitous cases as they arise.
26. The chairman of every local board shall transmit to
the Commissioners the minutes of the said board, together
with the reports and a list of the amounts of relief granted,
increased, reduced, or discontinued, and all relief during the
ensuing six months shall be paid according to the list:
Provided that the Commissioners may in their discretion
alter the amount of the relief or direct it to be discontinued, or
may direct that any relief discontinued be restored.
27. The Commissioners may at any time, in cases of
necessity, grant assistance to those requiring it.
28. All sums required for poor relief in any district
shall be from time to time remitted by the Commissioners to
the chairman of the local board for distribution:
Provided that where a person requiring relief does not
reside within the limits of any district the Commissioners
shall deal with every such case as they think fit.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
29. Everyone who on any examination under the
authority of this Act wilfully gives false evidence, or wilfully
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Refusal to
attend
summons of
Commissioners
.

Procedure and
appeal.
makes or subscribes a false declaration, shall be guilty of
perjury and liable to the pains and penalties thereof.
30. Everyone who refuses or wilfully neglects to
attend in obedience to a summons of the Commissioners, or
to give evidence before them, or wilfully alters, suppresses,
conceals, destroys, or refuses to produce, any books,
contracts, agreements, accounts, maps, plans, surveys,
valuations, or writings, or copies thereof, required to be
produced for the purposes of this Act, shall be liable to a fine
of nineteen thousand five hundred dollars or to
imprisonment for six months.
31. All complaints or information for the recovery of
any sum of money, or any fine, penalty, or forfeiture (save
and except when otherwise specially provided) shall be made,
heard, and determined as nearly as may be in the manner
prescribed by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts.
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