L.R.O. 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA

WATER COMMISSIONERS ACT
CHAPTER 55:02
Act
8 of 1886
Amended by
6 of 1997
Current Authorised Pages
Pages
(inclusive)
Authorised
by L.R.O.
1 – 11 ... 1/2012
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Index
of
Subsidiary Legislation
Page
Boerasirie Water Commission By-Laws 9
(By-laws 24th September, 1889)

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Water Commissioners
Water Comjmummary Jurisdiction (Lay Magistrates)
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CHAPTER 55:02
WATER COMMISSIONERS ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
MAKING AND EFFECT OF BY-LAWS
3. Commissioners may make by-laws.
4. Approval and publication of by-laws.
5. Imposition of penalties.
6. Liability of proprietor of plantation in certain cases for breach of
by- laws.
7. Recovery of reduced penalty.
8. Publication and proof of by-laws.
9. Laying of property in legal proceedings.
10. Saving of other powers.
OFFENCES
11. Damaging works.
12. Throwing glass into canal.
13. Fouling water in canal.
RESERVATION OF RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC
14. Saving of rights of the public, etc.
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1929 Ed
c. 129
1953 Ed.
c. 235
CHAPTER 55:02
WATER COMMISSIONERS ACT
8 of 1886 An Act to enable Commissioners appointed under any Act
for regulating the Conservation or Distribution of
fresh Water to make and enforce By-laws, and also to
provide for the Punishment of certain Offences.
[6TH OCTOBER, 1886]
Short Title.
Interpretation.
Commissioners
may make by-
laws.
1. This Act may be cited as the Water Commissioners
Act.
2. In this Act “Commissioners” includes any person or
body corporate however named or described.
MAKING AND EFFECT OF BY-LAWS
3. Where any commissioners are appointed under any
Act for regulating the conservation, supply, or distribution
of fresh water, or where any commissioners are entrusted
under any Act with any duty relating to the conservation,
supply, or distribution of fresh water, they may make by-
laws for any of the following purposes, that is to say, for—
(a) regulating the proper distribution of the
water amongst those entitled thereto;
(b) regulating the manner in which the
supply of water shall be afforded to or
received by those entitled thereto;
(c) preventing the fouling of the water in
any reservoir, canals or trench under
their charge;
(d) preventing injury to any of the works
under their charge;
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Water Comjmummary Jurisdiction (Lay Magistrates)
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Approval and
publication of
by-laws.

Imposition of
penalties.
[6 of 1997]
Liability of
proprietor of
plantation in
certain cases for
breach of by-
laws.
[6 of 1997]
(e) regulating the use and the traffic over,
along, or on the dams or canals under
their charge; and
(f) generally securing the proper
conservation of the water under their
charge, and preventing any waste
thereof.
4. (1) No by-law, and no alteration, addition, or
repeal of any by- law, made by the Commissioners, shall
take effect unless and until submitted to and approved by
the Minister, who may allow, or disallow, or alter the same
as he thinks proper.
(2) The Minister may alter or repeal any by-law
previously approved.
5. (1) The Commissioners may, by any by-law made
under this Act, impose on offenders against the same a
penalty not exceeding the sum of one hundred and fifty
dollars for each offence, and in case of a continuing offence a
further penalty of four thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five dollars for each day after written notice of the
offence from the Commissioners or any of their officers or
servants.
(2) All the penalties are recoverable under the
Summary Jurisdiction Acts.
6. (1) The Commissioners, in addition to section 5,
may also, by any by-law made under this Act, in any case
where the proprietor of a plantation might derive benefit by
not complying with a by-law, direct that the penalty
incurred by non-compliance therewith, whoever the actual
offender may be, shall be payable by the proprietor of the
plantation.
(2) No penalty so imposed shall exceed forty-eight
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thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars for a first offence,
or ninety-seven thousand five hundred dollars for a second
or any subsequent offence, or, in case of a continuing
offence, a further penalty of forty-eight thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars for each day after written notice of
the offence from one of the Commissioners has been served
on the manager of the plantation.
(3) The penalty is recoverable at the instance of the
Commissioners by parate execution against the proprietor,
without naming him.
(4) Every application for that execution shall be by
motion before a judge of the High Court in its civil
jurisdiction, and notice of the motion shall be served in the
manner provided by law for serving a writ of summons on
the owner of a plantation in cases where the process is
against an owner without the names being mentioned.
(5) On the motion, the manager of the plantation and
anyone interested in the plantation may appear and oppose
the granting of the application.
(6) When it is proved that the penalty has been
incurred, the judge hearing the motion may order that
parate execution issue against the proprietor, without
naming him, for the recovery of the penalty incurred.

Recovery of
reduced
penalty.
Publication and
proof of
by-laws.
7. All by-laws made under this Act imposing a
penalty shall be so framed as to allow of the recovery of any
sum less than the full amount of the penalty.
8. (1) All by-laws made under this Act, when settled
and approved by the Minister, and every alteration thereof,
shall be published in the Gazette.
(2) The production of the Gazette containing a copy of
the by- laws, or any alteration thereof, purporting to be
made or approved by the Minister is conclusive evidence
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Water Comjmummary Jurisdiction (Lay Magistrates)
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Laying of
property in
legal
proceedings.
thereof for all purposes, and that the same have been rightly
made and are in force, unless the person disputing the
validity thereof can prove that any of them has been
subsequently altered or repealed with the approval of the
Minister.
9. In any legal proceedings (other than proceedings by
or on behalf of the State, or of any public officer against the
Commissioners), the property of any works, material, water,
or thing under the charge of the Commissioners may be laid
in the Commissioners.
Saving of other
powers.

Damaging
works.
[6 of 1997]

Throwing glass
into canal.
[6 of 1997]
Fouling water
in canal.
[6 of 1997]

10. Nothing contained in the preceding sections shall
be deemed to limit the powers or authority of the
Commissioners given by any Act or to prevent them
enforcing any right by civil process.
OFFENCES

11. Everyone who without lawful excuse wilfully
damages any dam, trench, outfall, koker, or sluice is liable
on summary conviction, to a fine of not less than nine
hundred and seventy-five dollars and not more than forty-
six thousand eight hundred dollars, and to imprisonment
for a term of three months.
12. Everyone who wilfully throws any glass, or
permits any glass to fall, into any canal or trench for the
storage or supply of fresh water is liable on summary
conviction to a fine of nine hundred and seventy-five
dollars.
13. Everyone who wilfully fouls the water in a canal or
trench for the supply or distribution of fresh water is liable
on summary conviction to a fine of nineteen thousand five
hundred dollars and to imprisonment for a term of three
months.

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Saving of rights
of the public,
etc.
RESERVATION OF RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC
14. (1) Where any canal or trench is constructed on
land held under grant from the State and is under the
charge of the Commissioners, the public, subject to any by-
laws approved by the Minister, has the right of passing and
re-passing along and over the banks of that canal.
(2) Subject to negative resolution of the National
Assembly the Minister may declare that a bank may be used
by any person or company for the purpose of laying and
working a railway or tramway thereon or for any other
purpose, subject to the conditions and stipulations to the
Minister seeming expedient.
(3) Subject to negative resolution of the National Assembly the Minister may permit navigation and traffic on
boats on a canal, subject to the by-laws from time to time
approved by him.
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LAWS OF GUYANA
Water Commissioners
Water Comjmummary Jurisdiction (Lay Magistrates)
Cap. 55:02 9
Boerasirie Water Commission By-Laws [Subsidiary]
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SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION __________________________
By-laws 24th
September, 1889 BOERASIRIE WATER COMMISSION BY-LAWS
made under section 3
Citation.

Interpretation.
c. 50:05
Commissioners’
function.
Estimate.

Payment of
annual
assessment.
1. These By-laws may be cited as the Boerasirie
Water Commission By-laws.
2. In these By-laws –
“Commissioners” means the Boerasirie Commissioners
appointed under the Boerasirie Creek Act;
“canal” means the canal constructed by the Commissioners
under the Boerasirie Creek Act;
“proprietor of a plantation” means proprietor of a
plantation liable to pay any assessment under the
Boerasirie Creek Act.
3. The Commissioners shall cause the canal and all
works connected therewith to be kept in good order.
4. At the half-yearly meeting of proprietors of
plantations to be held in the month of January in each year,
the Commissioners shall submit an estimate of the cost of
maintenance of the canal and the works connected
therewith, and of all salaries for the current year; and, upon
such estimate being approved, the Commissioners shall
apportion the same pro rata over the various interests as
provided by section 8(g) of the Boerasirie Creek Act.
5. The annual assessment is payable as follows,
namely, one moiety on the 1st March and one moiety on the
lst September in each year; and any proprietor of a
plantation who refuses or neglects to pay the assessment
within one month after the date is in addition to being liable
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c. 50:05

Person not to cut
through dam of
canal, etc.

Manager etc. not
to cut through
dam of canal, etc.
Person not to
open sluice.

Manager etc. not
to open sluice etc.

to be proceeded against as provided in section 12 of the
Boerasirie Creek Act, liable to have the water shut off from
the plantation during the non-payment of the arrears.
6. No person shall, except with the permission in
writing of a Commissioner, cut or cause to be cut through
the dams of the canal, or make any stop-off therein, or in
any way impede the passage of the water therein, for any
purpose or under any pretence whatever, under a penalty of
one hundred and fifty dollars for each offence.
7. No manager, deputy manager, overseer, engineer,
superintendent, or other person of, or belonging to a
plantation shall, except with the permission in writing of a
Commissioner, cut, or cause to be cut, through the dams of
the canal, or make any stop-off therein, or in any way
impede the passage of the water therein, for any purpose, or
under any pretence whatever, under a penalty of seven
hundred and twenty dollars in case of a first offence, and a
penalty of one thousand four hundred and forty dollars in
case of a second or any subsequent offence, and, in case of a
continuing offence, a further penalty, of seven hundred and
twenty dollars for each day after written notice of the
offence from one of the Commissioners has been served on
the manager of the plantation.
8. Every person who opens, or causes to be opened,
the sluice or koker of any plantation during the period for
which the Commissioners may have thought proper to
direct it to be kept shut, is liable to a penalty of one hundred
and fifty dollars for each offence.
9. (1) Any manager, deputy manager, overseer,
engineer, superintendent, or other person of and belonging
to a plantation or village who opens or causes to be opened
the sluice or koker of any plantation during the period for
which the Commissioners may have thought proper to
direct it to be kept shut, is liable to a penalty of seven
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Penalties
recoverable.
Bathing,
polluting water
of creek etc.
Cattle etc.
straying.
Use of craft in
canal.

hundred and twenty dollars in case of a first offence, and a
penalty of one thousand four hundred and forty dollars in
case of a second or any subsequent offence, and, in case of a
continuing offence, a further penalty, of seven hundred and
twenty dollars for each day after written notice of the
offence from one of the commissioners has been served on
the manager of the plantation.
(2) The kokers being locked down indicate that
plantations are upon time runs.
10. (1) The penalties imposed by by-laws 6 and 8 are
recoverable under section 15 of the Act.
11. Any person who is found bathing in or otherwise
polluting the water of the creek or canal, or trespassing
upon, or damaging the banks of the canal, may be
apprehended by any officer or other person authorised in
writing by a Commissioner, and shall, on summary
conviction, forfeit and pay a fine of thirty dollars.
12. Any cattle, horses, mules, asses, sheep, or goats
which are found straying on the banks of the canal may be
impounded, and any pigs which are found on the banks of
the canal may be destroyed; and in the event of any
proprietor of a plantation allowing any stock belonging to
the plantation to stray upon the banks of the canal, he shall
be deemed to have committed an offence, and is liable to a
penalty of one hundred and fifty dollars for each such
offence, and such penalty is recoverable under section 5 of
the Act.

13. No person is allowed to use any craft on the
waters of the canal without permission in writing from a
Commissioner; and any person who is so found without
such authority may be apprehended by any officer or other
person authorised in writing by a Commissioner, and shall,
on summary conviction, forfeit and pay a fine of thirty
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Dimensions of
sluices or kokers.


14. (1) The intake sluices or kokers of all the
plantations entitled to water from the canal shall be of iron
of the following dimensions, that is to say, 30 inches in
diameter and 40 feet in length, and they shall be placed not
less than five roods from the banks of the canal, with the
bottoms of the said sluices or kokers at 48 G.D.
(2) Weirs shall be placed in all the intake canals of
the plantations not more than five roods from the kokers,
and the weirs shall be of such material as the
Commissioners may direct, and the tops of the weirs shall
be at + 50.5 G.D.
(3) Any such weir shall be put down within 14 days
after notice in writing signed by a Commissioner has been
served upon the registered representative of the plantation
or village, subject to the approval of the Commissioners;
such approval or disapproval, as the case may be, shall be
expressed in writing and signed by the Commissioners, and
shall be forwarded by them, by registered letter, to the
registered representative of the plantation or village; and, in
case of disapproval, the reasons for such disapproval shall
be set out.
(4) If any weir is not put down or completed to the
satisfaction of the Commissioners as hereinbefore required,
or if any weir, after being approved of by the
Commissioners, at any time sinks below the required level
for such weir, or gets out of repair in any manner whereby
the proprietor of the plantation might derive benefit, for the
space of fourteen days after notice in writing signed by a
Commissioner has been served on the manager of the
plantation, then the penalty for any such infraction is a sum
of seven hundred and twenty dollars in case of a first
offence, and a sum of one thousand four hundred and forty
dollars in case of a second or any subsequent offence, and,
in case of a continuing offence there shall be a further
dollars.
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Schedule.

Exercise of
Commissioners
discretion.
penalty of seven hundred and twenty dollars for each day
after notice in writing of the offence from a Commissioner
has been served upon the manager of the plantation, and
every such penalty is recoverable under section 6 of the Act.
In case of a weir being out of repair, the water may be shut
off until the weir is repaired to the satisfaction of the
Commissioners.
(5) The acreage of the plantations included in the
Boerasirie Commission is 29,773 acres and dividing this over
168 hours, or a week, gives 5.64 hours run for every
thousand acres per week of seven days, and the area of the
standard koker being 707 square inches, this gives 3,988 inch
hours for each 1,000 acres. The Commissioners may, in case
of necessity, allow the temporary use of a koker of a smaller
size than is hereinbefore mentioned, and in any such case
the area of such temporary koker in square inches divided
into the above inch hours will give the hours during which
such temporary koker may be allowed to remain open.
(6) The plantations, with the times at which their
respective kokers are to be opened and closed, are specified
in the Schedule. Any time runs may be transferred upon a
written application from the managers of both plantations
being delivered to the secretary to the Commissioners 36
hours before such transfer is required.
(7) The Commissioners are hereby permitted to
regulate the time runs, or to shut off the water entirely at
any time, according to the level of water in the canal.
15. In anticipation of the approach of rainy seasons
when the water in the creek rises to 57 G.D., it shall be
lawful for the Commissioners to remove all restrictions, and
allow the participators in the scheme to draw at will for
flushing, or any other purpose. But on the approach of the
usual dry seasons, and when the water falls to 59 G.D. in the
Main Creek, the Commissioners may order the plantations
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Placing and use
of fines.



to be put on the time run.
16. All fines recovered under these by-laws shall be
placed to the credit of the account for the maintenance of the
canal, and may be used, in whole or in part, for rewarding
any officer or servant of the Commissioners.
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