Notice to show cause against order
Whenever it appears to a Land Administrator on grounds to be recorded by him in writing with reference to land owned by any person—
(a) that earth, mud, silt, gravel or stone from such land has caused or is likely to cause damage to other land, whether alienated or not, or to any watercourse, whether natural or artificial, or has interfered or is likely to interfere with the due cultivation of other land, whether alienated or not; or
(b) that by reason of the steepness of the slope of such land, damage has been or is likely to be caused to such land by erosion or displacement of earth, mud, silt, gravel or stone upon or from such land, the Land Administrator may, by notice served on the owner or occupier of such land, require him to show cause, at a time and place to be stated in such notice, why an order should not be made under this Act prohibiting him from doing, or requiring him to do, any act or thing which may under section 14 be prohibited or required to be done.
Appearance to show cause
Any owner or occupier of land who is required to show cause why an order under section 11 should not be made in respect of such land may attend and show cause either in person, or by his agent duly authorized by power of attorney in that behalf, or by an advocate and solicitor or, with the permission of the Land Administrator, by any other person.
Procedure on appearance
(1) If an owner or occupier of land who is required to show cause as aforesaid attends in person, or by any representative referred to in section 12, at the time and place stated in the notice, the Land Administrator shall—
(a) inform such owner or occupier or representative, as the case may be, of the grounds on which the notice was issued;
(b) in the presence of such owner or occupier or representative, make any enquiry and take and record any evidence which the Land Administrator thinks necessary as to the facts and circumstances of the case;
(c) hear and record the statement (if any) of such owner or occupier or representative; and
(d) take and record the evidence of all persons attending at the instance of such owner or occupier or representative whom such owner or occupier or representative desires to examine.
(2) For the purpose of carrying out this section the Land Administrator shall have the same powers of summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and of compelling the production of documents and of adjourning proceedings from time to time as the Court of a Magistrate has in civil suits.
Powers to make orders and nature of orders
(1) If an owner or occupier of land who is required to show cause as aforesaid fails without reasonable excuse (to be allowed by the Land Administrator) to attend in person or by any representative referred to in section 12 at the time and place mentioned in the notice, or, having so attended, fails to show cause to the satisfaction of the Land Administrator why an order in respect of the land referred to in the notice should not be made, the Land Administrator may—
(a) make an order in writing under his hand prohibiting, either absolutely or to such extent as may be prescribed in the order, interference with or destruction or removal of any trees, plants, undergrowth, weeds or grass within or from such parts of the said land as are specified in the order;
(b) with the sanction of the State Secretary, make an order in writing under his hand requiring the making on the said land of drains and watercourses, and the construction thereon of dams and retaining walls, of such character and dimensions and in such positions as are specified in the order;
(c) with the sanction of the State Secretary, make an order in writing under his hand requiring the doing on or in respect of the said land of any act or thing which appears
to the Land Administrator likely to prevent, and prohibiting the doing on or in respect of the said land of any act or thing which appears to the Land Administrator likely to facilitate the passage of earth, mud, silt, sand, gravel or stone from the said land to other land, whether owned by any person or not, or to any river, canal or drain.
(2) Any order made under this section may prescribe the time within which any work, act or thing required by such order to be made or done shall be completed.
Variation and revocation of orders
(1) Any order made under section 14 may be varied or revoked by the Land Administrator by writing under his hand:
Provided that—
(i) no such order or part thereof made with the sanction of the State Secretary shall be varied or revoked save with the sanction of the State Secretary;
(ii) no such order shall be varied so as to prohibit or require anything not authorized by section 14 to be prohibited or required;
(iii) the sanction of the State Secretary shall be required for any variation of such an order which, if contained in an original order under section 14, would require the sanction of the State Secretary;
(iv) no such order shall, except with the express consent of the owner or occupier of the land in respect whereof the order was made, or of some person duly empowered so to consent on behalf of the owner or occupier, be varied unless reasonable opportunity shall first have been given to such owner or occupier to show cause why the order should not be varied.
(2) Such notice shall refer to the subsisting order and to the date whereon the same was made and shall contain particulars of the manner in which the same is proposed to be varied.
(3) After service of such notice the procedure prescribed by sections 12 and 13 shall, subject to necessary modifications, apply; and the provisions of this Act applicable to an order made under section 14 shall apply also to any such order as varied under this section.
Operation of orders
Subject to the judgment of the High Court, every order made under section 14 shall after service thereof upon the owner or occupier of the land in respect whereof the same is made be, so long as the same remains unrevoked, binding upon all persons who are from time to time registered as owner or occupier of such land and upon all persons who are from time to time in lawful occupation thereof.
Appeal
(1) Every order under section 14 or part thereof which is—
(a) mandatory, and where the cost of the work ordered to be done does not exceed two thousand ringgit; or
(b) prohibitory,
shall be final and there shall be no appeal therefrom.
(2) Subject to subsection (1) an appeal shall lie to the High Court from any order made under section 14:
Provided that—
(a) no such appeal shall be brought after the expiration of fourteen days from the time when the order appealed against was made;
(b) the obligation to comply with an order made under section 14 shall not be affected by the fact of an appeal having been preferred against the order, but the High Court may for sufficient cause suspend the obligation.
(3) The procedure governing such appeals to the High Court shall be the same as for appeals to the High Court from decisions of subordinate courts in civil matters:
Provided that the decision of the High Court shall be final and there shall be no appeal therefrom.
Penalty
(1) Any person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with any order made under, or any provision of this Act, requiring him to do or prohibiting him from doing any act or thing shall be liable to a fine of not exceeding five thousand ringgit and in default of payment thereof to imprisonment for a term which may, subject to section 283 of the Criminal Procedure Code [Act 593], as the circumstances may require, extend to six months.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in any other written law, any penalty authorized by this section may be imposed by a Court of a Magistrate of the First Class.
Maintenance of work
Where any drain, watercourse, dam, wall or other work has in pursuance of an order under section 14 been made on any land, all persons who are from time to time registered as owners or occupiers of such land shall, so long as such order remains unrevoked, at his or their own expense maintain such work in good and efficient order to the satisfaction of the Land Administrator.
Record of orders in the register
(1) Where by virtue of an order made under section 14 any prohibition or requirement is under this Act imposed on an owner or occupier of land, the Land Administrator may certify under his hand and official seal the terms of the order and the particulars of the document or documents of title under which such land is held, and the Registrar having custody of the register wherein the title to such land is recorded shall on production to him of such certificate enter in the said register a memorandum of the making of such order and shall file such certificate.
(2) Where any order of the making whereof a memorandum has been entered under subsection (1) is varied or revoked or is affected by a judgment of the High Court, such variation or revocation or the effect of such judgment may in like manner be certified and a memorandum thereof entered in the register and the certificate thereof filled.
Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).
