PIERS ACT

This Act may be cited as the Piers Act.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"Minister" means the Minister charged with responsibility for transport;
"owner", in relation to a pier, includes the occupiers;
"pier" includes every pier or wharf of whatever description erected on or extending beyond the foreshore of the sea or of any tidal waters or extending into the water of any navigable inland waters and any pontoon moored in any such waters and used as a pier or wharf.

This Act shall not apply in respect of any pier in a port within the meaning of the Nigerian Ports Authority Act or in the approaches to any such port within the meaning of that Act.
[Cap. NI26.]

(1) No person shall erect or re-erect, alter or extend, any pier except under a licence issued under this Act.
(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall upon conviction be liable to payment of a fine of one hundred naira.

The Minister may, by notice in writing, require the owner of a pier existing at the commencement of this Act to remove the same within such time as may be specified in the notice, if the owner shall, not within the time and in the manner prescribed by section 6 of this Act, either produce an authority from the Government for the erection and continuance of the pier contained in a lease or other formal instrument, or apply for a licence to authorise the continuance of the pier.

The owner of every pier existing at the commencement of this Act shall, within three months of the commencement of the Act-
(a) if he holds any authority from the Government for the erection and continuance of the pier contained in a lease or other formal instrument, produce such lease or other formal instrument or a certified copy thereof;
(b) if he does not hold any lease or other formal instrument, apply to the Minister for a licence for the continuance of the pier and furnish him with a statement, in writing, setting forth the following particulars-
(i) his name and address;
(ii) a description of the pier;
(iii) the situation of the pier;
(iv) the purposes for which the pier is used;
(v) whether the pier is used solely for his own purposes;
(vi) if persons other than him are permitted to use the pier, whether any charge is made by him for such use, and the amount of the charge (if any);
(vii) the date when the pier was first erected, and, if re-erected, the date of the last re-erection;
(viii) the nature of the authority given for the erection of the pier, the date thereof and the person by whom and the person to whom such authority was given;
(ix) the grounds (if any) on which he claims a right to continue to use and maintain the pier, and whether such right is claimed in perpetuity or for a limited term.

If the owner of a pier existing at the commencement of this Act applies for a licence for the continuance of a pier and establishes a legal or equitable right to the continuance of the pier he shall be entitled to receive from the Minister a licence which shall preserve to him such legal or equitable rights with regard to the use and maintenance of the pier and the re-erection and alteration and extension thereof as he shall have acquired before the commencement of this Act.

If the owner of a pier existing at the commencement of this Act applies for a licence for the continuance of the pier, but fails to establish a legal or equitable right to the continuance of the pier, the Minister may-
(a) by notice in writing require him to remove the pier within such time as may be specified in the notice; or
(b) grant him a licence to use and maintain the pier for such period and on such terms and conditions as to the Minister may seem proper.

If any dispute shall arise between the Minister and an applicant for a licence for the continuance of a pier as to whether the applicant has established a right to such licence or as to the terms and conditions which should be inserted in the licence to preserve the rights acquired by the owner with regard to the pier, such dispute shall be settled by the High Court within whose area of jurisdiction the pier is situate upon a summons taken out by the Attorney-General of the Federation or by the applicant for the licence and in the like manner or as nearly as conveniently may be as disputes are determined by the court under the law for the time being regulating the acquisition of land for public purposes.
[LN, 47 of 1955.]

The Minister may grant a licence for the erection of a new pier, or for the re-erection, extension or alteration of a pier upon such terms and conditions as he may think proper, or as may be prescribed.

The Minister may cancel any licence issued under this Act if the owner of the pier fails to comply with any of the conditions of the licence.

(1) The Minister may cancel a licence issued under this Act whenever he may think proper in the public interest, but in such a case the owner of the pier shall be entitled to compensation unless express provision to the contrary is contained in the licence.
(2) When the amount of the compensation is not agreed, the amount shall be determined by the High Court within whose area of jurisdiction the pier is situate in the like manner as the amount of compensation is determined under the law for the time being regulating the acquisition of land for public purposes.

(1) Any person acting on the authority of the Minister may remove a pier or any portion thereof, and for such purpose may enter upon any land in any of the cases following-
(a) if the owner is required by or under this Act to remove a pier and refuses or neglects to do so within the time specified or;
(b) if after the commencement of this Act the pier has been erected, re-erected, altered or extended without a licence or;
(c) if the licence for the pier has been cancelled under the provisions of this Act or;
(d) if the licence or other authority for the pier has expired.
(2) Except in the case where the licence for the pier has been cancelled under section 12 of this Act, the costs and expenses of and in connection with such removal shall be defrayed by the owner of the pier and may be recovered from him at the suit of the Director-General of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in any court of competent jurisdiction.

All customs and police officers and the Government Inspector of Shipping or any Government officer authorised by him shall in the exercise of their duties have right of access at all times to any piers, and in case of any public emergency (certified under the hand of the Minister) any officer of the Government shall be entitled to take temporary possession of any pier required for the public service.
[27 of 1954.122 and 6th Schedule. L.N. 112 of 1964.]

The Minister may make regulations for all or any of the following-
(a) requiring the owners of piers to maintain the same and the approaches thereto in a proper state of repair;
(b) prescribing the fees to be paid for any licences issued under this Act;
(c) for the proper lighting of piers;
(d) prescribing the life-saving apparatus to be supplied by the owners of piers and to be kept thereon; and
(e) generally for giving effect to the provisions and purposes of this Act.

In the application of this Act to a pier in an inland waterway, other than an inland waterway declared by the National Assembly to be an international waterway or an inter-State waterway, the functions under this Act of the Minister shall be vested in the Governor of the State concerned, and a reference to the Attorney-General of the Federation shall be construed as a reference to the Attorney-General of the State.
[L.N. I of 1955. L.N. 112 of 1964.]