Section 26: Incentives to occupiers of former sugar estate camps and to workers

26. Incentives to occupiers of former sugar estate camps and to workers and employees on transfer of land (1) Notwithstanding any other enactment, where land is transferred— (a) to an occupier of a former sugar estate camp owned by a planter or a miller; (b) to an employee who has voluntarily terminated his contract of employment under a VRS, under an ERS or in the context of a factory closure taking place after 1 July 1997, pursuant to section 30 of the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority Act; (c) subject to subsection (3), to an occupier of a residential building erected— (i) on land leased to him by the owner; or (ii) on land occupied by him with the consent of the owner, the deed witnessing the transfer of land shall be exempted from payment of the— (i) duty and taxes leviable under Parts II and III of the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act; (ii) — (iii) transcription duty leviable under the Transcription and Mortgage Act; (iv) — S49 – 23 [Issue 5] Sugar Industry Efficiency Act (1A) Notwithstanding the Morcellement Act, where land is transferred under subsection (1) and the transferor applies for and is issued with a morcellement permit in respect of that land, he shall be exempted from payment of the fees payable under section 9 of that Act. (1AA) The exemptions referred to in subsections (1) and (1A) shall not apply unless the deed witnessing the transfer of land contains a certificate from the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority, stating that the transferee is entitled to that exemption. (1B) The provisions of subsections (1) and (1A) shall apply to the heirs of a deceased occupier or deceased employee as they would have applied to an occupier or employee referred to in those subsections. (2) Any deed of transfer under subsection (1) shall contain a declaration from the transferor— (a) that the occupier referred to in subsection (1) (a) is either employed or was immediately before his retirement employed by the transferor; or (b) that the employee referred to in subsection (1) (b) has voluntarily terminated his contract of employment. (3) (a) Subsection (1) (c) shall apply— (i) where the lease or occupation, as the case may be, commenced before 1 January 2000; (ii) where the deed of transfer contains a certificate from the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority to the effect that the transfer is in accordance with subsection (1) (c); and (iii) up to 30 April 2006. (b) For the purposes of— (i) subsection (1) (c), “owner” means a sugar estate or an agricultural estate; (ii) this section, “land” shall include land with or without a building thereon. [S. 26 amended by s. 28 (c) of Act 14 of 2005 w.e.f. 21 April 2005; s. 29 (f) of Act 15 of 2006 w.e.f. 7 August 2006; s. 9 of Act 3 of 2007 w.e.f. 1 March 2007; s. 42 (c) of Act 14 of 2009 w.e.f. 30 July 2009; s. 65 (5) (g) of Act 40 of 2011 w.e.f. 19 March 2012; s. 6A of Act 15 of 2013 w.e.f. 29 June 2013.] PART V – LAND CONVERSION