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Bahamas Numbered Acts |
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No. 21 of 2003 |
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AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE NATIONAL ART GALLERY |
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OF THE BAHAMAS, TO PROVIDE FOR THE |
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ACQUISITION, PRESERVATION, MAINTENANCE OF |
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COLLECTIONS, PUBLIC EDUCATION TO FOSTER AND |
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ENCOURAGE PUBLIC INTEREST AND FOR MATTERS |
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ANCILLARY THERETO. |
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(Date of Assent - 11th July, 2003) |
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Enacted by the Parliament of The Bahamas. |
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1.
This Act may be cited as the
National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, Act, 2003.
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Short title. |
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2.
In this Act, unless the
context otherwise requires -
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Interpretation. |
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"Board" means the National Art Gallery Board of The Bahamas referred to in section 10; |
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"Chairman" means the person appointed, under paragraph 1(2) of the Schedule, as Chairman of the Board; |
Schedule. |
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"collections" means any works of art vested in the Gallery by virtue of section 16 and any works of art acquired by the Gallery under the provisions of this Act; |
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"Deputy Chairman" means the person appointed under paragraph 1(2) of the Schedule as Deputy Chairman of the Board; |
Schedule. |
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"Gallery" means the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas established to under section 3(1); |
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"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the National Art Gallery; "Secretary" means the person appointed under paragraph 1(2) of the Schedule as Secretary of the Board; |
Schedule. |
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"works of art" includes paintings, drawings, engravings, prints, graphic art, photographic art, sculpture, statues and objects of cultural value. |
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3.(1)
There shall be established a
Gallery to be known as the "National Art Gallery".
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The National Art Gallery. |
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(2)
The Gallery shall be a body
corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and with
power to acquire, hold and dispose of land
and other property of
whatever kind, to enter into contracts, to sue and be sued in its
said name and to do all things necessary
for the purposes of this
Act.
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4.(1)
The common seal of the Gallery
shall be kept in the custody of the Chairman or the Secretary and
shall be affixed to instruments requiring
the seal in the presence
of the Chairman or a member of the Board designated by the Chairman
and one other member.
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Seal of the Gallery. |
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(2)
The common seal of the Gallery
shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman and one
other member, and such seal shall be
officially and judicially
noticed.
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(3)
All documents, other than
those required by law to be under seal, made by, and all decisions
of the Gallery may be signified under
the hand of the Chairman of
the Board or any other member of the Board designated by the
Chairman.
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5.(1)
The Gallery may take steps to
acquire premises in any part of The Bahamas for the purpose of
maintaining its collections in those
premises and holding
exhibitions of its collections in those premises, or so much of
those collections as from time to time it thinks
fit, and, so long
as those premises are held by the Gallery, the premises shall
collectively be known as the National Art Gallery
of The
Bahamas.
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Keeping of collections. |
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(2)
Subject to the provisions of
this Act, it shall be the duty of the Gallery, as soon as
practicable after it has acquired such premises
as aforesaid, to
keep the works of art comprised in its collections in one of those
premises.
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(3)
Nothing in the foregoing
provisions of this section is to be taken as precluding the Gallery
from exhibiting any of the works of art
comprised in its
collections at any place, wherever situate, other than such
premises as are mentioned in subsection (2), or from
removing any
of those works of art for any purpose, other than exhibition, or
conservation connected with the administration of any
such premises
as are so mentioned or the care of its collections.
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(4)
Where it appears to the
Gallery that any works of art comprised in its collections cannot
conveniently be kept within any such premises
as are mentioned in
subsection (2), the Gallery may store those works of art at such
other premises, wherever situate, as appear
to the Gallery to be
suitable.
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6.(1)
Subject to the provisions of
this Act, the Gallery shall have power to acquire any works of art
which in its opinion it is desirable
to add to its collections, or
to borrow any works of art for the purpose of exhibiting such,
whether those works of art are located
within or outside The
Bahamas.
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Power of Gallery to acquire, borrow and dispose of works of art. |
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(2)
Subject as aforesaid, the
Gallery may sell, exchange, give away or otherwise dispose of any
work of art vested in it and comprised
in its collections if the
work of art is a duplicate of another such work of art or is for
any other reason not, in its opinion,
required for retention in
those collections.
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(3)
Where a work of art has become
vested in the Gallery subject to any trust or condition, the powers
conferred by subsection (2) shall
not be exercisable as respects
that work of art in a manner inconsistent with that trust or
condition.
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7.
The functions of the Gallery
shall be -
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Functions of Gallery. |
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(a)
to secure the due administration
and preservation of the collections of the Gallery;
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(b)
to acquire and maintain
outstanding examples of Bahamian works of art, and to maintain and
exhibit such through the Gallery and other
buildings serving the
purpose of art;
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(c)
to educate the public on various
types of works of art;
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(d)
to ensure the efficient operation
of the Gallery;
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(e)
to cooperate and assist in
collating a collection of high quality works of art;
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(f)
to establish a policy on the
categories of works of art to be preserved in the Gallery;
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(g)
to care for, preserve and add to
the works of art in the collections of the Gallery;
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(h)
to maintain a record relating to
the collections of the Gallery;
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(i)
to interact with national and
international organizations concerned with setting high standards
in the operation of a national art
Gallery;
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(j)
to foster and encourage public
interest in works of art through exhibitions, educational
programmes, and liaison with all sections
of the art community;
and
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(k)
to do all such things as are
incidental to the aforesaid functions or as the Gallery may think
conducive to the attainment of those
functions or to the management
of the affairs of the Gallery.
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8.
The Gallery shall have power
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General powers of National Art Gallery. |
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(a)
to open bank accounts in its
name, and to prepare budgets;
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(b)
to raise funds and invite and
receive contributions and gifts from any person by way of donation
or otherwise for the enrichment and
development of culture in The
Bahamas;
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(c)
to launch appeals to the public
for financial or other support for the Gallery; and
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(d)
to operate or lease out a Gallery
shop promoting works of art, books or other cultural
artifacts.
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9.(1)
Any work of art vested in the
Gallery may be lent by it, subject to the provisions of this
section, on such terms and conditions as
the Gallery thinks fit, to
any institution whether in The Bahamas or elsewhere.
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Power of Gallery to lend works of art. |
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(2)
In exercising the power
conferred by subsection (1) in the case of any work of art, the
Gallery shall have regard to the interests
of students and other
persons visiting the collections vested in the Gallery, to the
physical condition and degree of rarity of the
work of art, and to
any risks to which the work of art is likely to be exposed.
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10.(1)
There shall be established a
board to be known as the "National Art Gallery Board".
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Establishment of the Board. |
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(2)
The management, control and
administration of the National Art Gallery shall be vested in the
Board.
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(3)
Without prejudice to the
generality of subsection (2) the Board shall have power -
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(a)
to control and superintend the
property and policies of the National Art Gallery;
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(b)
to appoint on such terms and
conditions as it thinks fit a Director who shall be the managing
director of the Gallery and responsible
for the day to day
administration of the Gallery;
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(c)
to appoint on such terms and
conditions as it thinks fit a curator who shall be responsible for
preserving and exhibiting the collections
of the Gallery;
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(d)
to appoint such other
professional, technical, administrative and other staff as appear
to the Board to be necessary, on such terms
and conditions
(including salaries allowances and other remuneration and
disciplinary control as the Board may determine; and
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(e)
to receive on behalf of the
National Art Gallery gifts, grants or other moneys.
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(4)
The Schedule shall have effect
without respect to the constitution, proceedings and staff of the
Board and otherwise in relation thereto.
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11.
The Board shall be responsible
for the general direction and control of the Gallery but, in the
exercise of the functions of the Board,
the Board shall -
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Relations between Minister and Board. |
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(a)
give effect to any direction
which the Minister may, after consultation with the Board, give to
the Board under his hand in relation
to any matter that appears to
him to affect the public interest, on the policy to be followed by
the Board or any action to be taken
on the discharge of its
functions; and
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(b)
afford to the Minister facilities
for obtaining information with respect to the property and activity
of the Gallery, furnish the
Minister with accounts and other
information with respect thereto and afford him facilities for the
verification of any information
furnished, in such manner and at
such times as the Minister may require.
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12.(1)
Where any public officer
holding a pensionable officer under the Government ceases to be the
holder of such office by reason of his
transfer with his consent to
the service of the Gallery and such person subsequently retires
from the service of the Gallery in such
circumstances that, had he
remained a public officer, he would have been eligible for pension
under the provisions of the Pensions
Act, then in any such case the
provisions of subsections (2) and (3) shall have effect.
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Pensions of persons transferred from the public service to the Gallery. Ch. 43. |
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(2)
Any pension payable to any
such person as is mentioned in subsection (1) by the Gallery to
whose service he has been transferred shall
be calculated and
granted to him in respect of his total service under the Government
and with the Gallery taken together and such
service shall be
reckoned as continuous for pension purposes.
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(3)
There shall be payable out of
the Consolidated Fund upon the warrant of the Minister of Finance
to the Gallery as contribution to
every pension paid in accordance
with subsection (2), such amounts as would have been payable to the
person concerned by way of pension
under the Pensions Act, if any
such person had retired from the public service and if he had been
granted a pension under the Pensions
Act upon the date of his
ceasing to be a public officer.
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Ch. 43. |
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13.
The funds and resources of the
Gallery shall consist of -
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Financial provisions. |
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(a)
such moneys as may be provided by
Parliament;
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(b)
such moneys as may from time to
time accrue to the Board from the operation of the Gallery;
and
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(c)
such other moneys and property as
may in any manner be lawfully paid to or vested in the Gallery
whether or not in respect of any
matter incidental to its
functions.
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14.(1)
The Gallery shall be exempt
from the payment of any duty of customs under the Tariff Act in
respect of -
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Exemption from the payment of customs duties, stamp duties and real property tax. Ch. 295. |
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(a)
works of art acquired by the
Gallery under the provisions of this Act and being imported into
The Bahamas for the purpose of being
kept in the Gallery;
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(b)
works of art vested in the
Gallery and being re-imported into The Bahamas after having been
exported temporarily from The Bahamas
for exhibition outside The
Bahamas; and
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(c)
works of art borrowed by the
Gallery and imported temporarily into The Bahamas for exhibition in
The Bahamas.
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(2)
The Gallery shall be exempt
from the payment of any duty under the Stamp Act in respect of
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Ch. 370. |
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(a)
import entries of works of art
acquired by the Board under the provisions of this Act and being
imported into The Bahamas for the
purpose of being kept in the
Gallery;
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(b)
export entries of works of art
vested in the Board and being exported temporarily from The Bahamas
for exhibition outside The Bahamas
and the import entries relating
to their re-importation; and
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(c)
import entries of works of art
borrowed by the Board and imported temporarily into The Bahamas for
exhibition in The Bahamas and the
export entries relating to their
re-exportation.
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(3)
The Gallery shall be exempt
from the payment of any taxes under the Real Property Tax
Act.
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Ch. 375. |
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15.(1)
The Gallery shall keep proper
accounts and other records in relation thereto, and shall prepare
in respect of each financial year
a statement of accounts.
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Accounts and audit. |
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(2)
The accounts of the Gallery
for each financial year shall in the year following be audited by a
public accountant licensed under the
Public Accountants Act, to be
appointed by the Minister.
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Ch. 364. |
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(3)
Not less than three months
after the end of each financial year the Board shall submit a copy
of the audited accounts to the Minister
together with a copy of any
report made by the auditor.
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(4)
The Minister shall lay a copy
of such audited accounts before each House of Parliament, together
with a copy of any report made by
the auditor on the
accounts.
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16.(1)
The movable and immovable
property and undertakings owned by the Government and used by it
for the operation of the Gallery immediately
before the date of
commencement of this Act shall by virtue of this Act be transferred
to and vested in the Gallery for the same
purpose as they were held
by the Government immediately before the said date.
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Transfer of assets to Gallery. |
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(2)
The transfer and vesting
aforesaid shall extend to the whole of such movable and immovable
property and undertakings and shall include
works of art, assets,
powers, rights, and privileges and all things necessary or
ancillary thereto which are held or enjoyed in connection
therewith
or appertaining thereto, as well as all obligations affecting or
relating to any of the aforesaid movable and immovable
property or
undertakings or their things included therein as aforesaid.
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17.
Subject to the provisions of
this Act, all laws, rules, regulations, orders, judgments, decrees,
awards, deeds, bonds, contracts,
agreements, instruments,
documents, warrants and other arrangements subsisting immediately
before the date of commencement of this
Act affecting or relating
to any of the movable or immovable properties or undertakings
transferred to the Gallery by or under this
Act shall have full
force and effect against or in favour of the Gallery and shall be
enforceable fully and effectually, as if instead
of the Government
the Gallery had been named therein or had been a party thereto, and
otherwise in substitution of the Government.
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Construction of laws and contracts relating to transferred assets. |
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18.(1)
The Minister after
consultation with the Board may make by-laws providing for -
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By-laws. |
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(a)
the management of its
affairs;
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(b)
the appointment and duties of the
officers and employees of the Board;
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(c)
the custody of the property of
the Gallery;
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(d)
the making of appeals to the
public for financial or other support for the Gallery; and
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(e)
generally, for the better
carrying into effect of the purposes of this Act and the
furtherance of the functions of the Gallery.
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(2)
Sections 30 and 31 of the
Interpretation and General Clauses Act shall not apply to by-laws
made under this section nor shall the
by-laws require publication
in the Gazette but a copy of them shall be forwarded to the
Minister.
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Ch. 2. |
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19.(1)
Where anything has been
commenced by or under the authority of the Government prior to the
date of commencement of this Act and such
thing relates to any of
the movable or immovable properties or undertakings or any right or
liability transferred to the Gallery
by or under this Act, such
thing may be carried on and completed by or as authorized, by the
Board.
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Transitional provisions. |
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(2)
Where immediately before the
date of commencement of this Act, any legal proceedings are pending
to which the Government is or is
entitled to be a party, and such
proceedings are related to any of the movable or immovable
properties or undertakings, or any right
or liability transferred
by or under this Act, the Board shall, as from that date, be
substituted in such proceedings for the Government
or shall be made
a party thereto in such proceedings for the Government or shall be
made a party thereto in like manner as the Government
could have
become, and such proceedings ,hall not abate by reason of the
substitution.
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SCHEDULE |
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1.(1)
The Board shall consist of
twelve members of whom -
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Constitution of Board. |
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(a)
one shall be the Director of the
National Museum ex officio;
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(b)
one shall be the Director of the
National Art Gallery ex officio;
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(c)
one shall be the Director of
Archives;
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(d)
one shall be the President or his
representative of the College of The Bahamas;
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(e)
one shall be the Director-General
of Tourism;
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(f)
one shall be the Director of
Culture;
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(g)
one shall be a member of The
Bahamas Historical Society appointed by the Minister; and
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(h)
five shall be appointed by the
Minister after consultation with the Director and such economic or
social bodies or associations from
which the Minister considers
that such members shall be selected:
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Provided that the first Board consisting of seventeen members and constituted before the date of commencement of this Act shall continue as members for a period of one year commencing from the date of the coming into force of this Act and such members shall be eligible for re-appointment. |
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(2)
The Minister shall appoint
three members to be respectively Chairman, Deputy Chairman and
Secretary of the Board.
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2.
Subject to paragraph 1(1), a
member of the Board shall hold office for such period, not
exceeding three years, as the Minister may
direct in the instrument
appointing such member, but such member shall be eligible for
re-appointment.
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Tenure of office. |
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3.
Any member of the Board may at
any time resign his office by instrument in writing addressed to
the Minister and from the date of
receipt by the Minister of such
instrument, such member shall cease to be a member of the
Board.
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Resignation. |
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4.(1)
The Minister, by instrument in
writing, may at any time revoke the appointment of a member of the
Board, appointed under paragraph
1(1)(a), if he thinks it expedient
so to do.
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Removal. |
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(2)
The Minister, by instrument in
writing, may at any time revoke the appointment of the Chairman,
the Deputy Chairman, the Secretary
or any member of the Board,
appointed under paragraph 1(1)(b), if he thinks it expedient so to
do.
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5.
The appointment, removal,
death or resignation of any member of the Board shall be notified
in the Gazette.
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Publication. |
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6.
There shall be paid from the
funds of the Gallery to the officers, servants or agents of the
Board such remuneration, if any, whether
by way of honorarium,
salary or
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Remuneration. |
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fees and such allowances, if any, as the Minister may determine on the advice of the Board. |
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7.(1)
Except as provided in any
contract of employment with the Gallery, the Minister may grant to
any employee of the Gallery, in respect
of his service with the
Gallery pensions, gratuities or other allowances at the rate
prescribed by and in accordance with the provision
of the Pensions
Act as if reference in that Act to the Governor-General, the public
service and a public office were reference to
the Gallery acting
with the approval of the Minister, service with the Gallery and
such employee respectively.
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Pensions, etc. |
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(2)
For the purposes of
subparagraph (1) reference to the service of an employee of the
gallery includes any continuous period of service
of that employee
with an approved authority immediately prior to his service with
the Gallery.
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(3)
In this paragraph the
expression "approved authority" has the meaning assigned to it in
the Pensions Act.
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Ch. 43. |
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(4)
The pensions, gratuities or
other like allowances which are payable under subparagraph (1)
shall be charged on and paid out of the
Consolidated Fund.
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8.(1)
The Board shall meet not less
than three times in each year, at such times as may be necessary or
expedient for the transaction of
business, and such meetings shall
be held at such places and times and on such days as the Chairman
may determine.
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Meetings. |
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(2)
The Chairman, or in his
absence the Deputy Chairman, shall preside at all meetings of the
Board.
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(3)
Subject to subparagraph (4),
the Chairman, or in his absence the Deputy Chairman, and four other
members of the Board shall form a
quorum.
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(4)
In relation to any meeting of
the first Board constituted after the date of commencement of this
Act, nine members of the first Board
shall form a quorum.
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(5)
The decisions of the Board are
by a majority of votes and in addition to an original vote, in any
case in which the voting is equal,
the Chairman or the Deputy
Chairman presiding at the meeting has a casting vote.
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(6)
Minutes of each meeting in
proper form are to be kept by the Secretary or any officer the
Board may appoint for that purpose, and
confirmed by the Board at
the next meeting and signed by the Chairman or a member of the
Board designated by the Chairman as the
case may be.
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(7)
The Board may co-opt any one
or more persons to attend any particular meeting of the Board for
the purpose of assisting or advising
the Board in any matter with
which the Board is dealing, but no co-opted person has the right to
vote.
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(8)
Provided a quorum is present,
the validity of any proceeding of the Board shall not be affected
by any vacancy amongst the members
thereof or by any defect in the
appointment of a member thereof.
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9.
Subject to the provisions of
this Act, the Board has the power to regulate its own
proceedings.
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Board to regulate own proceedings. |
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