Committee

Mr Speaker: Committee stage, what day?

Mr Nair: Now Sir. Sir, I move,

That this Assembly will immediately resolve itself into a Committee on the Bill.

The Minister for Commerce and Industry (Mr J. M. Jumabhoy): Sir, I second it.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill considered in Committee.

10.19 a.m.

Clause 1-

Mr Nair: Sir, I rise to move an amendment to clause 1,

In page 1, line 7, at the end to add the words",and shall come into force upon such date as the Governor may, by notification in the Gazatte, appoint".

This Bill, Sir, in its present form will come into force as an Ordinance on the date that is passed by the Assembly. When it does so, Sir, sections 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the present Ordnance will be repealed and therefore the present licences will become null and void. It will take time for the new system to be bought into being and for the Pawnbrokers Licensing Board to receive, consider and decide on applications. It is therefore felt that clause 1 of the Bill should be amended to provide for the date of coming into force of the Ordinance to be appointed by the Governor, so that there can be a time lag between the date on which the Bill becomes an Ordinance and the date on which it is brought into force to allow for the preliminary work to be completed.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 3-

Mr Nair: Sir, I rise to move an amendment to clause 3,

In page 2, lines 5 to 7, to leave out paragraph (c) and insert the following-

"(c) three persons to be appointed from their own number by the Justices of the Peace;".

Sir, I think the amendment is self-explanatory.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Nair: Sir, I rise to move another amendment to clause 3,

In page 2, line 11, to leave out the words "by the Minister" and insert "in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section".

Sir, this is for the purposes of clarification.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Nair: Sir, I rise to move,

In page 2, line 15, to insert after the word "Minister" the words "or the Justices of the Peace, as the case may be,".

I think, Sir, this also is self-explanatory.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Nair: Sir, I have another amendment to move,

In page 2, line 19, to leave out the words "by the Minister".

Sir, these words are not necessary there.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Nair: Sir, I move,

In page 3, lines 35 and 36, to leave out the words "with two sureties".

Sir, the reason for this amendment is that the words "with two sureties" do not conform to the recommendations approved by the Government in its White Paper. This amendment is proposed to make the Bill consistent with the Government's recommendations.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 3, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 4 to 7 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 8-

Mr Nair: Sir, I beg to move an amendment to clause 8,

In page 5, line 33, after the word "sections", to insert the words "and portions".

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 8, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

The Schedule-

Mr Nair: Sir, I rise to move,

In page 6, lines 1 to 18, to leave out the whole of the Schedule and insert the following:-

'THE SCHEDULE. (Section 8).

First Column Second Column Section 3 Delete the words "two hundred and fifty" wherever they appear therein and substitute therefor the words "one thousand". Section 11 Delete the words "Deputy Commissioner of Police" appearing in the third line of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) thereof and substitute therefor the word "Board". Section 14 Delete the word "ten" appearing in the third line thereof and substitute therefor the words "one hundred". Section 15 (a) Delete the word "ten" appearing in the first line thereof and substitute therefor the words "one hundred"; (b) Delete the figures "$10" appearing in the marginal note thereto and substitute therefore the figures "$100". First Column Second Column Section 16 (a) Delete the word "ten" appearing in the first line thereof and substitute therefor the words "one hundred"; (b) Delete the figures "$10" appearing in the marginal note thereto and substitute therefor the figures "$100". Section 17 (a) Delete the word "ten" appearing in the first line of subsection (1) thereof and substitute therefor the words "one hundred"; (b) Delete the words "Chief Secretary" appearing in the first line of subsection (4) thereof and substitute therefor the word "Minister"; (c) Delete the figures "$10" appearing in the marginal note thereto and substitute therefor the figures "$100". Section 19 Delete the word "ten" appearing in the second line thereof and substitute therefor the words "one hundred". Section 20 (a) Delete the word "ten" appearing in the first line thereof and substitute therefor the words "one hundred"; (b) Delete the words "Deputy Commissioner of Police" wherever they appear therein and substitute therefor the word "Board"; (c) Delete the words "affixed at the police office" appearing in the seventh line of subsection (2) thereof. Section 21 (a) Delete the word "ten" appearing in the second line thereof and substitute therefor the words "one hundred"; (b) Delete the figures "$10" appearing in the marginal note thereto and substitute therefor the figures "$100". Section 28 Delete the word "two" appearing in the fourth line thereof and substitute therefor the word "four". Section 29 Delete the word "two" appearing in the last line thereof and substitute therefor the word "four". Section 30 Delete the word "two" appearing in the fifth line of subsection (1) thereof and substitute therefor the word "four". Section 36 Delete the word "one" appearing in the last line thereof and substitute therefor the word "two". Schedule A Delete the words "Deputy Commissioner Form No. 3 of Police" appearing therein and substitute therefor the word "Board". Schedule C Delete the words "Licensing Officer" wherever they appear therein and substitute therefor the word "Board"'.

Sir, the reason for this is that there have been some consequential amendments to be inserted thereon and I have now collated the whole of these amendments into one schedule, and that is the reason why I propose that the Schedule as it stands be deleted entirely and a new schedule inserted therefor.

Amendment agreed to.

The Schedule, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Mr Nair: Mr Chairman, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill, as amended, be reported to the Assembly."

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill reported, with Amendments.

Third Reading

Mr Speaker: Third Reading, what day?

Mr Nair: Now, Sir. Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill, as amended, be now read the Third time."

Mr J. M. Jumabhoy: I second it.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill, as amended, accordingly read the Third time.