24.
(1) The Minister1 may make regulations respecting the transit of all forest produce by land or water. Such regulations may, among other matters-
| | (a) prescribe the places at and the routes by which alone forest produce may be exported from, or transported within, Ceylon ; | | |
| | (b) prohibit the transport of timber within, into, or out of any specified local area without a permit from any forest officer duly authorized to issue the same or otherwise than in accordance with the conditions of such permit; | | |
| | (c) prescribe the form of permits, and provide for their issue, production, and return ; | | |
| | (d) fix the fees payable for permits in respect of forest produce collected or timber cut on land belonging to the Crown ; | | |
| | (e) in, the case of timber formed into a raft or fastened to the shore, prohibit the loosening or the setting adrift of such timber by any person not the owner thereof, or not acting on behalf of such owner or of the Crown ; | | |
| | (f) provide for the stoppage, and examination of vehicles, boats and rafts or any timber in transit; | | |
| | (g) establish or authorize any forest officer to establish checking stations at which any vehicle, boat or raft may be required to stop to enable the officer in charge of such station to examine such vehicle, boat or raft for the purpose of ascertaining whether any timber or forest produce is being transported therein, and if so, to deal with such timber or forest produce according to law ; | | |
| | (gg) authorize any forest officer to establish stations to which timber or forest produce seized in transit may be brought, and provide for the issue of permits by the officer in charge of any such station or any checking station for the transport of timber ; | | |
| | (h)provide for the management and control of such stations, and for regulating the appointment and duties of persons employed thereat; | | |
| | (i) authorize the transport of timber the property of the Crown across any land, and regulate the compensation to be paid for any damage done by the transport of such timber ; | | |
| | (j) prohibit the closing up or obstruction of the channel or banks of any river, lagoon, or back water used for the transit of timber or other forest produce, and the throwing of grass, brushwood, branches, and leaves into any such river, lagoon, or backwater, or any other act which tends to cause the obstruction of such channel; | | |
| | (k) provide for the prevention and removal of any obstruction in the channel or on the banks of any such river, lagoon, or backwater, and for recovering the cost of such prevention or removal from the person, or by the sale of any timber or other forest produce causing such obstruction ; | | |
| | (I) prohibit absolutely, or subject to conditions within specified local limits, the establishment of sawmills, sawpits, the converting, cutting, burning, concealing, marking, or super marking of timber, the altering, defacing, or effacing of any marks on the same, and possession or carrying of marking hammers or other implements used for marking timber; | | |
| | (m) regulate the use of property marks for timber, and the registration of such marks ; declare the circumstances in which the registration of any property marks may be refused or cancelled ; prescribe the time for which such registration shall hold good ; limit the number of such marks that may be registered by any one person, and provide for the levy of fees for such registration ; | | |
| | (n) provide for the protection of bridges, locks, or other public works by regulating the floating of timber or forest produce and the storing of timber or forest produce on river banks, and by authorizing the seizure of timber or forest produce floated or stored in contravention of any rule for the time being in force in that behalf, or by which any damage to such works may have been caused, and the detention and disposal of such timber or forest produce until compensation has been made for the damage done ; | | |
| | (o) provide for the issue of licences, for the use and possession of marking hammers, and for the levy of fees for such licences. | | |
|
|
(2) In this section the terms " forest produce " and " timber " shall, unless the context otherwise requires, include timber cut in any land or property, whether the property of the Crown or any private individual. |
|
|