CHAPTER 173
NATIONAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION COMMISSION ACT

Arrangement of Sections

PART I
PRELIMINARY

   Section

   1.   Short title

   2.   Interpretation

PART II
NATIONAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION COMMISSION

   3.   Establishment of Commission

   4.   Seal of Commission

   5.   Composition of Commission

   6.   Tenure of office and vacancy

   7.   Remuneration and allowances of members

   8.   Functions of Commission

   9.   Delegation of functions

   10.   Ministerial directions

   11.   Proceedings of Commission

   12.   Committees of Commission

   13.   Disclosure of interest

   14.   Immunity of members

PART III
ADMINISTRATION

   15.   Director

   16.   Deputy Director

   17.   Attendance at meetings of the Commission

   18.   Staff of Commission

   19.   Honorary Commissioners

   20.   Prohibition of publication or disclosure of information to unauthorised persons

PART IV
FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

   21.   Funds of Commission

   22.   Financial year

   23.   Accounts

   24.   Annual report

   25.   Contents of report

   26.   Tabling report

PART V
CONSERVATION OF HERITAGE

   27.   Declaration of national monuments

   28.   Entry on land for purposes of surveying

   29.   Registrar to be notified

   30.   Endorsement on title

   31.   Restriction on alienating, mortgaging, subdividing, etc.

   32.   Object to be declared a relic

   33.   No alteration, removal, etc., without consent of commission

   34.   Export of heritage

   35.   Destruction of heritage

   36.   Actions to protect safety and avoid risks

   37.   Permits for collection or excavation

   38.   Conditions of permits

   39.   Acts authorised by permit

   40.   Offence and penalty

   41.   Normal mining engineering and agricultural operations not prohibited

   42.   Discovery of ancient heritage or relic

   43.   Powers of commission when discovery reported

   44.   Resumption of operations

   45.   Ownership of relics

   46.   Compensation for removal of relic

   47.   Acquisition of relic

   48.   Negotiations for heritage sites

   49.   Regulations

   50.   National monuments continued

   51.   Repeal of Cap. 266 of the 1971 Edition

AN ACT

to repeal and replace the Natural and Historical Monuments and Relics Act; to establish the National Heritage Conservation Commission; to define the functions and powers of the Commission; to provide for the conservation of ancient, cultural and natural heritage, relics and other objects of aesthetic, historical, pre-historical, archaeological or scientific interest; to provide for the regulation of archaeological excavations and export of relics; and to provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.

[29th December, 1989]

Act 23 of 1989,

Act 13 of 1994.

PART I
PRELIMINARY

1.   Short title

This Act may be cited as the National Heritage Conservation Commission Act.

2.   Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

"ancient heritage" means—

      (a)   any building, ruin, or remaining portion of a building or ruin;

      (b)   any pillar or statue;

      (c)   any settlement, cave or natural rock shelter with traces showing that people once lived there, any house site or church-site of any kind, or remains or parts of these, any mound representing the midden of an ancient settlement, and any other site with concentrations of buildings, such as trading centres, town sites and the like, or remains of these;

      (d)   any site and remains of workings and any other place of work of any kind, such as a quarry or other mining site, iron extraction site, charcoal kiln and any other trace of a craft or industry;

      (e)   any trace of any kind of cultivation of land, such as a pile of stones heaped up when land was cleared, a ditch and any trace of ploughing;

      (f)   any fence or dry stone wall, and any enclosure or arrangement for hunting, fishing or snaring;

      (g)   any road or other track entirely unpaved or paved with stones, wood or other materials;

      (h)   any dam, weir, bridge, ford, harbour-works, landing place or ancient slip-way or the remains of such;

      (i)   any bar made of sunken vessels;

      (j)   any landmark for use on land or on water;

      (k)   any kind of defence such as a fort, entrenchment, fortress and remains of these;

      (l)   any site for holding council, any cult site or any place where objects were thrown for purposes of magic, any well, spring or other place with which archaeological finds, tradition, belief, legends or customs are associated;

      (m)   any stone or solid rock with inscriptions or pictures such as rock carvings, rock paintings, cup marks, ground grooves or any other rock art;

      (n)   any monolith, cross or other such heritage;

      (o)   any stone setting, stone paving or the like;

      (p)   any burial place of any kind, individually or in collected sites, such as a burial mound, burial cairn, burial chamber, cremation patch, urn burial and coffin burial;

      (q)   any place or thing which is designed by the Commission as an ancient heritage;

which is known or believed to have been erected, constructed or used as the case may be, before 1st January, 1924, whether above ground, underground or underwater.

"badge" means the emblem or seal of the Commission;

"Commission" means the National Heritage Conservation Commission established under section 3;

"committee" means a committee constituted by the Commission under section 12;

"conservation" means the professional care of any heritage so that it shall continue to play a useful role for present and future generations;

"cultural heritage" means—

      (a)   any area of land which is of archaeological, traditional or historical interest or contains objects of such interest;

      (b)   any old building or group of buildings of historical or architectural interest;

      (c)   any relic, national monument or ancient heritage;

      (d)   any other object constructed by man, other than a relic, of aesthetic, archaeological, historical or scientific value or interest;

"Director" means the Director of the Commission appointed under section 15;

"Deputy Director" means the Deputy Director of the Commission appointed under section 16;

"excavation" includes any process of digging or unearthing or any act involved in such process and "excavate" shall be construed accordingly;

"heritage" includes—

      (a)   any ancient heritage;

      (b)   any cultural heritage;

      (c)   any natural heritage;

      (d)   any national monument;

      (e)   any relic;

"Honorary Commissioner" means a person designated to be an Honorary Commissioner under section 19;

"member" means a member of the National Heritage Conservation Commission appointed under section 5;

"national monument" means a heritage declared to be a national monument under section 27 and includes any property provisionally so declared for a period of five years from the date of the provisional declaration;

"natural heritage" means—

      (a)   any area of land which has distinctive beautiful scenery or has a distinctive geological formation; and includes any palaeontological area;

      (b)   any area of land containing rare distinctive or beautiful flora or fauna;

      (c)   any waterfall, cave, grotto, old tree or avenue of trees;

      (d)   any other natural object with aesthetic, or scientific value or interest;

      (e)   any natural relic and national monument;

"plaque" means a sign erected by the Commission which indicates that an object is an ancient heritage, relic or has been declared as a national monument;

"Registrar" has the same meaning assigned to it in the Lands and Deeds Registry Act;

"relic" means—

      (a)   a fossil of any kind;

      (b)   any drawing, painting, petroglyph or carving on stone commonly believed to have been executed in Zambia before 1st January, 1924;

      (c)   any object of historical, scientific, anthropological, archaeological, aesthetic or cultural value made or used in Zambia before 1st January, 1924;

      (d)   any object of ethnological interest;