Section 6: Authority to develop

6. Authority to develop (1) Where, after consideration of an application, the Board is satisfied that— (a) the proposed morcellement satisfies all planning requirements; and (b) the plan submitted makes adequate provision for the infrastructural works, the Board shall, subject to subsection (1B) (a), within a period of 6 weeks from its effective date, forward the application, with its recommendations, to the Minister. [Issue 9] M67 – 4 Revised Laws of Mauritius (1A) Every member of the Board shall convey his stand on the application within 4 weeks of the effective date referred to in subsection (1), failing which he shall be deemed to have no objection to the issue of the letter of intent under subsection (2). (1B) (a) Where an application is accompanied by a preliminary environmental report or an EIA licence, the Board shall forward the application within a period of 3 weeks from its effective date, to the Minister with its recommendations. (b) Notwithstanding subsection (1A), where the application is accompanied by a preliminary environmental report or an EIA licence, every member of the Board shall convey his stand on the application within 2 weeks of the effective date referred to in subsection (1), failing which he shall be deemed to have no objection to the issue of the letter of intent under subsection (2). (2) Where the Minister is satisfied with the recommendations of the Board, he shall issue a letter of intent to the developer within 8 weeks of the effective date referred to in subsection (1). (3) The letter of intent shall entitle the developer to execute the infrastructural works. (4) The Board may require the developer to cause to be altered or amended by a land surveyor any plan submitted with his application under section 5 and the land surveyor shall, where required by the Board, certify that the alteration or amendment is in line with the terms of the letter of intent. (5) No infrastructural works shall be executed by a developer unless he holds a letter of intent referred to in subsection (3). (6) The developer shall, within a period of 3 years from the date of issue of the letter of intent, complete the infrastructural works to the satisfaction of the Board. (7) Notwithstanding subsection (6), where the proposed morcellement is for the purpose of a large investment project deemed by the Minister to be in the economic interest of Mauritius and approved as such by Cabinet, the period of 3 years referred to in that subsection shall, subject to the approval of Cabinet, be extended to such period as the Minister may determine. (8) Where a person fails to comply with subsection (6) or (7) without any reasonable excuse or justification, the burden of proving which shall lie on him, he shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 100,000 rupees for every calendar month of delay in the completion of the infrastructural works. M67 – 5 [Issue 9] Morcellement Act (9) For the purpose of this section— “effective date”, in relation to section 5, means the date on which the application is complete and which date shall be communicated to the developer. [S. 6 amended by s. 15 (d) of Act 1 of 2009 w.e.f. 16 April 2009; s. 36 (b) of Act 18 of 2016 w.e.f. 15 November 2016; s. 19 (b) of Act 4 of 2017 w.e.f. 20 May 2017.]