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[F.A.Q.]
Vanuatu Consolidated Legislation |
Commencement: 24 May 1982
LAWS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF
VANUATU
REVISED
EDITION 1988
CHAPTER 142
Act
4 of 82ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1.
Interpretation
2. Establishment of the
Office
3. Functions of the
Office
4. Powers of the
Office
5. Composition of the
Office
6. Deputy
chairman
7. Term of office of chairman
and deputy chairman
8.
Secretary
9. Meetings of the
Office
10. General manager of the
Office
11. Funds of the
Office
12. Temporary investment of
funds
13. Guarantee of
loans
14. Control of
borrowings
15. Accounts and
audit
16. Annual
report
17. Submission of estimates for
purpose of grants
18.
Contracts
19. Evidence of sealing of
documents
20. No personal liability to
attach to members or employees of
Office
21. Ministerial
directions
22.
Regulations
-----------------------------------
NATIONAL TOURISM OFFICE
To provide for the
establishment of the National Tourism Office, for the development of tourism and
the improvement of standards in
the tourism
industry.
INTERPRETATION
1.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"the Office" means the National Tourism Office established under section 2;
"financial year" means the financial year of the Office which shall be the same as that of the Government financial year;
"general manager" means the general manager provided for in section 10;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for tourism.
ESTABLISHMENT
OF THE OFFICE
2. (1) There is
hereby established a body corporate to be known as the National Tour-ism
Office.
(2) The Office shall have
perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue or be sued in its corporate
name.
FUNCTIONS
OF THE OFFICE
3. (1) The Office
shall encourage and assist in an orderly development of the tourism industry
within Vanuatu and ensure that the
services the industry provides are of as high
a quality as is reasonably
possible.
(2) Without limiting the
function provided for in subsection (1) the office shall-
(a) coordinate the activities that provide services for visitors to Vanuatu and ensure that those services are of the highest possible standard;
(b) endeavour to preserve and stimulate pride in the cultural heritage of Vanuatu;
(c) use its best endeavours to prevent developments in tourism that, whether air not economic benefits may be gained, have a harmful affect on the social and cultural life of the people;
(d) discourage development that is likely to intrude on or disturb the daily life of the people or detract from their right to privacy;
(e) encourage the greatest possible ni-Vanuatu participation in the tourism industry;
(f) use its best endeavours to ensure that the largest possible financial benefit )is obtained by Vanuatu from the tourism industry;
(g) encourage people from other countries to visit Vanuatu as tourists.
POWERS
OF THE OFFICE
4. (1) Subject to
any regulations made under section 22, the Office may do all things necessary
and convenient for the carrying out
of its
functions.
(2) Without derogating,
from the generality of subsection (1) the Office may-
(a) acquire hold and dispose of real and personal property including houses and other accommodation for occupation by employees and advisers;
(b) promote or finance any undertaking;
(c) subject to section 14, borrow money by the issue of debentures or in any other manner including bank overdraft;
(d) establish or participate in any pension and provident fund schemes for the benefit of its employees and their dependants;
(e) carry out programmes of research;
(f) establish training programmes;
(g) sponsor competitions;
(h) publish printed or audio visual matter for sale or otherwise;
(i) acquire copyright;
(j) charge fees for services rendered by it.
COMPOSITION
OF THE OFFICE
5. (1) The Office
shall consist of eleven members, ten of whom shall be appointed by the Minister
and who shall be-
(a) a representative of the Ministry responsible for tourism who shall be the chairman;
(b) a representative of the Ministry responsible for transport;
(c) a person who the Minister considers represents the interests of the island of Tanna;
(d) a person who the Minister considers represents the interests of the island of Espiritu Santo;
(e) a person from the public sector who the Minister considers has a connection with tourism;
(f) a person who the Minister considers represents the interests of the international airlines operating to and from Vanuatu;
(g) a person who the Minister considers represents the interests of the domestic airlines operating within Vanuatu;
(h) a person who the Minister considers represents the interests of the hotel industry in Vanuatu;
(i) a person who the Minister considers represents the interests of tour operators in Vanuatu;
(j) a person who the Minister considers represents sectors of tourism not other-wise represented on the office.
(2)
The general manager shall be a member of the Office
ex-officio.
(3) Subject to
subsections (4) and (5) members of the Office other than the general manager
shall serve for a term of 3 years but
may be eligible for
reappointment.
(4) Should the
Minister be satisfied that a member of the Office appointed under subsection
(1)-
(a) has been absent from 2 consecutive meetings of the Office without the con-sent of the chairman;
(b) has become insolvent;
(c) is incapacitated by physical or mental illness;
(d) has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude; or
(e) is otherwise unable or unfit to discharge the functions of a member;
the
Minister may by notice published in the Gazette declare the office of the member
vacant.
(5) A member of the Office
appointed by the Minister in accordance with subsection (1) may resign by not
less than 30 days notice
in writing to the
Minister.
DEPUTY
CHAIRMAN
6. The deputy chairman of
the Office shall be appointed by the Minister from among, its
members.
TERM
OF OFFICE OF CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY
CHAIRMAN
7. The chairman and
deputy chairman shall each serve as such until their term as a member of the
Office ends and may be
reappointed.
SECRETARY
8.
(1) There shall be a secretary to the Office who shall be an employee thereof
and shall be appointed by the
Office.
(2) The secretary or a
person acting as such shall attend all meetings of the Office and prepare the
minutes thereof.
(3) The secretary
shall keep in safe custody the seal and all documents of the Office; receive all
process served on the Office and
carry out such other duties as the Office or
general manager shall
direct.
MEETINGS
OF THE OFFICE
9. (1) The Office
shall meet not less than 2 times in every 12
months.
(2) The first meeting of
the Office shall be convened by the
Minister.
(3) Subject to
subsection (4) the Chairman shall convene all other
meetings.
(4) The Minister after
consultation with the Council of Ministers or not less than seven members by 30
days prior notice in writing
signed by them may convene extraordinary
meetings.
(5) The quorum at
meetings shall be six members.
(6)
The proceedings at any meeting shall not be invalidated by any vacancies in the
membership of the office provided the number of
such vacancies does not exceed
four.
(7) Any member of the Office
may appoint another member to be proxy for him and vote on his behalf at any
meeting that he does not
attend.
(8) The Office may invite
any persons to participate in meetings but they shall have no
vote.
(9) Subject to subsection
(10) decisions of the Office shall be made by a majority vote of members present
and voting, the chairman
of the meeting having a casting,
vote.
(10) No decision by the
Office involving the expenditure of funds of the Office may be made unless the
meeting at which the decision
is made is presided over by the chairman of the
Office.
(11) Subject to this Act,
the Office may make internal rules regulating its procedure for the
chairmanship, calling, conducting and
adjournment of meetings of the
Office.
GENERAL
MANAGER OF THE OFFICE
10. (1) The
Minister after consultation with the Office shall appoint and remove the general
manager who shall be an employee of the
Office.
(2) The general manager
shall be the chief executive of the Office and of all its
operations.
(3) The Office may, by
resolution or otherwise, delegate to the general manager, with or without
restrictions or conditions, such
of its powers and functions as it may consider
expedient for the day to day operation of the
Office.
FUNDS
OF THE OFFICE
11. The funds of the
Office shall consist of-
(a) grants from the Government out of monies appropriated by Parliament for such purposes;
(b) grants from other sources;
(c) monies borrowed by the Office;
(d) monies received by the Office in any other way in the course of the discharge of its functions.
TEMPORARY
INVESTMENT OF FUNDS
12. Any funds
of the Office not immediately required for the carrying out of its functions may
be invested from time to time either
in securities approved in writing by the
Minister responsible for finance or such other securities as may be authorised
by law for
the investment of trust
funds.
GUARANTEE
OF LOANS
13. The Government may
guarantee any loans to the
Office.
CONTROL
OF BORROWINGS
14. The Minister
responsible for finance shall by order prescribe-
(a) the aggregate maximum indebtedness that the Office may incur without his con-sent in writing; and
(b) the maximum individual sums that the Office may likewise borrow.
ACCOUNTS
AND AUDIT
15. (1) The Office shall
keep proper accounts and other records in respect of its receipts and
expenditure and shall cause to be prepared
an annual statement of accounts in
respect of each financial
year.
(2) The accounts of the
Office shall be audited annually by independent and properly qualified auditors
approved in writing by the
Minister responsible for finance and appointed by the
Office.
(3) As soon as is
reasonable after the end of each financial year the Office shall transmit to the
Minister responsible for finance
and the Minister audited accounts together with
any report made by the auditors thereon and such explanations as the Office may
consider
appropriate.
ANNUAL
REPORT
16. (1) The Office shall
make an annual report of its activities to the Minister not less than 45 days
before the commencement of
the annual budget session of
Parliament.
(2) A copy of the
audited accounts for the previous financial year provided for in section 15 and
provisional accounts for the current
financial year shall be attached to the
report.
(3) The Minister shall
submit the annual report together with such comments as he may have thereon to
Parliament during the annual
budget
session.
(4) Upon submission to
the Minister of-
(a) its annual report; and
(b) the audited accounts referred to in subsection (2),
the
Office shall cause copies thereof to be printed and made available to members of
the public upon payment, in the discretion of
the Office, of a charge to cover
the costs of printing and making such copies
available.
SUBMISSION
OF ESTIMATES FOR PURPOSE OF
GRANTS
17. If the Office shall
need a grant referred to in section 11(a), so that the Government may determine
the amount thereof for inclusion
in the budget, the Office shall not less than
90 days before commencement of the financial year during which the grant is
required
submit to the Minister responsible for finance estimates of expenditure
and receipts for that year and of unexpended funds carried
forward.
CONTRACTS
18.
A contract which if made between natural persons would by law be-
(a) required to be sealed shall be made, varied or discharged by the Office under seal;
(b) required to be in writing signed by the parties may be made, varied or discharged on behalf of the Office in writing signed by a person acting with its express or implied authority;
(c) valid if although made by parol only may be made, varied or discharged by parol on behalf of the Office by any person acting with express or implied authority.
EVIDENCE
OF SEALING OF DOCUMENTS
19. The
fact that a document bears the seal of the Office shall be prima facie evidence
in any court or legal proceeding that the
document has been properly executed on
behalf of the
Office.
NO
PERSONAL LIABILITY TO ATTACH TO MEMBERS OR EMPLOYEES OF
OFFICE
20. No personal liability
shall attach to any member or employee of the Office in respect of anything done
or not done in good faith,
and without negligence under the provisions of this
Act.
MINISTERIAL
DIRECTIONS
21. The Minister may,
after consultation with the Office give to the Office such directions of a
general character with respect to
the performance of any functions of the Office
as appear to the Minister to be requisite in the public
interest.
REGULATIONS
22.
The Minister may by Order make regulations not inconsistent with this Act for
the better carrying out of the objects and purposes
of this Act.
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