Cap. 640 Art. 6Establishment and composition of the Authority.             Cap. 553.

(1) There shall be established an Authority to be known as the Older Persons Standards Authority, whose functions shall be, amongst others, to set regulatory standards for all the services provided to older persons in terms of this Act and to ensure that such standards are duly complied with in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(2) There shall be a Board of Governors consisting of seven (7) members of whom one (1) shall be the Chairperson and another member shall be the Deputy Chairperson.

(3) Without prejudice to any other law, the members of the Board of Governors shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons who appear to him to be qualified by reason of having professional qualifications, or academic qualifications, or experience in or having shown capacity in matters relating to care of older persons. The

Commissioner for Older Persons shall be appointed as one (1) of the members however, he shall have the right to abstain from any ex officio, decision that he thinks it may be prejudicial to the powers given to him under the Commissioner for Older Persons Act.

(4) The Minister shall appoint an additional person who shall not have any voting rights to act as Secretary to the Board.

(5) The Chairperson and the other members of the Board shall hold office for a period of three (3) years:

Provided that the members so appointed may be re-appointed on the expiration of their term of office:

Provided further that no members, except for the Commissioner for Older Persons, shall hold office as a member of the Board for more than two (2) consecutive terms:

Provided further that if a member is appointed at any time after the other members have already been appointed, the term of appointment of such member shall end on the same date as that of the other members.

(6) A person shall not be qualified to hold office as a member of the Board if such person:

(a) is a candidate for election to or a member of the House of Representatives, the European Parliament, a Local Council or a Regional Council;

(b) is legally incapacitated or interdicted;

(c) is otherwise providing a service to the Authority or employed with an entity or facility that is regulated by the same Board;

(d) has been declared bankrupt or has made a composition or arrangement with his creditors;

(e) has been convicted of a crime affecting public trust or theft or fraud or knowingly receiving property obtained by theft or fraud, or of any offence against this Act or against any other law, particularly those relating to the abuse against older persons; or

(f) has a financial or other interest in any enterprise or activity which is likely to affect the discharge of the functions as a member of the Board:

Provided that the Minister may determine that the interest of the person under this paragraph is not likely to affect the discharge of his functions and upon such determination that person shall be qualified to hold office of member of the Board provided that the declared interest and the determination of the Minister are published in the Government Gazette.