Hon Sui Sen
Singapore
“Sir, I must inform the Member for Rochore that the companies are run on the basis of private sector companies, i.e. their budgets are drawn up by their boards of directors. I do not know to what extent their budgets follow Government budgets but they are certainly not regulated in the sense that Government budgets are rigidly enforced.”
“Perhaps the Member is referring to PIE's operations with respect to the Armed Forces. PIE provides some of the supplies for feeding our army and other armed forces. If the private sector is equally viable, equally able to supply foodstuffs, I see no reason why they should not also compete with the PIE.”
“Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for the Environment and Minister for Communications if he will request the Port of Singapore Authority to consider providing transport alternatively paying a transport allowance to all employees of the PSA who have been moved out of the PSA Staff quarters in Blair Plain and as a result of which have been put…”
“INTRACO is a company in which the Government has some equity. I believe the proportion is somewhere around 20%. So in a sense it is not exactly a Government controlled company, although 20%, of course, is a fairly considerable share. In the case of PIE, the answer is yes, it is a Government company.”
“The dividend yields for the three holding companies were nil, The yields for the operating companies were nil for 34 companies (including eight which have yet to commence operations), 1% to 10% for five companies, more than 10% but less than 20% for 10 companies, and at least 20% for nine companies.”
“Sir, the simple answer to that is no, for the purpose of this Bill. This Bill merely enacts legislation to implement the 1982 Budget concessions.”
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“Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Development Loan Act, 1972 (No. 6 of 1972), authorises a sum of $2,000 million to be raised by way of loan for the purposes of the Development Fund. To date, a total of $1,585 million has been raised under the provisions of the Act, leaving a balance of $415 million only to be raised. Although the Government will continue to seek as much in the way of external loans as possible from the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the international money markets to help finance its development programme, the need will remain to mobilise domestic resources by the issue of local stock or bonds. In order to meet the needs of our development financing, it is possible that more than $5,000 million may have to be raised over the next five years. The Bill which is now before the House is necessary as new legislation since the Development Loan Act, 1972, cannot be suitably amended to increase the amount of loans to be raised. The Bill follows substantially the provisions of the Development Loan Act, 1972, except that the maximum sum to be raised under the Bill is $5,000 million instead of $2,000 million under the Development Loan Act, 1972. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“Sir, I beg to move, In page 10, line 31, to leave out "and". Sir, this is an obvious error. Amendment agreed to. Clause 7, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill. Bill reported with an amendment; read a Third time and passed. DEVELOPMENT LOAN BILL Order for Second Reading read. 5.28 p.m.”
“The Chief Financial Officer is also required to prepare and submit annually financial statements to the Corporation's auditor who shall audit and report on them. Further new provisions are introduced under clause 5 requiring the submission to the Minister of annual financial statements and a copy of any report made by the auditor which the Minister will present to Parliament. Provision is made for scrutiny of these reports by the Auditor-General at the same time as they are submitted to the Minister, where the Auditor-General has not been appointed to be the auditor of the Corporation. Clause 6 of the Bill repeals sections 29 and 30 and re-enacts section 29 which deals with the submission of the Corporation's Annual Report to the Minister by the 31st of March each year and the submission of the Report by the Minister to Parliament. Clause 2 amends section 2 by introducing a definition of a "flat" which has hitherto not been defined in the principal Act. Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.-[Mr Hon Sui Sen]. Bill considered in Committee. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] 5.25 p.m. Clauses 1 to 6 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 7 -”
“Transfers on the death of the owner will normally be allowed. However, should the Corporation refuse such consent, it is required to buy the flat back. If the price offered is considered to be unsatisfactory, the party involved may appeal to the Minister, whose decision shall be final. The Corporation is empowered to require owners of flats to form management corporations to maintain their flats. If the Corporation's direction in this regard is ignored, it may authorise any company to exercise the functions, duties and powers of a management corporation. The Corporation may also perform these functions itself. The costs of such management and maintenance services will have to be met by flat owners. Opportunity has also been taken in this Bill to make other amendments to the Jurong Town Corporation Act. The present membership of 15 is considered unwieldy and is to be reduced to nine, including the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman. The quorum required for a meeting of the Corporation is accordingly reduced from eight to five members. In clause 4, the Corporation's functions are extended so that in the sale of its flats it may provide loans on mortgage at such interest as may be prescribed. Clause 5 repeals sections 20 to 23 of the principal Act. It also re-enacts, with amendments, parts of section 20 of the principal Act by placing the responsibility of keeping the accounts of the Corporation in a Chief Financial Officer instead of a Financial Officer. This is necessary because of the redesignation of the post. The amended section 20 also sets out the other responsibilities of the Chief Financial Officer. New provisions relating to the appointment and powers of the Corporation's auditor have also been introduced.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." In planning the development of the Jurong industrial estate, the aim of the Jurong Town Corporation is to see it evolving into a self-contained new town. As part of the plan, low-cost flats have, therefore, been built so that workers may stay near their places of work. So far, 14,440 units have been completed. In line with Government's policy to encourage home ownership, the JTC has been selling some of its low-cost flats since December, 1969. To-date, 3,461 units have been sold. It is hoped that such sales will encourage more workers to settle permanently in Jurong and that there would, therefore, be added stability to the workforce there. The JTC sale of flats has been on terms and conditions similar to those applied by the Housing and Development Board, and elaborated in new sections 36 to 47 introduced under clause 7 of this Bill. Under these terms and conditions, strict conditions to prevent flats sold on instalments from falling into the hands of speculators and profiteers have been imposed. Such stringent conditions apply also to executive flats built in Jurong for middle management. Flats may be sold only to those buying for their own occupation and owning, by themselves or their spouses, no other residential property. A flat purchased on false pretences will not be registrable and will revert to the Corporation without any refund of payments already made. The provisions of the new sections as contained in clause 7 of the Bill also simplify formalities for registration of sale, mortgage and discharge required under the Registration of Deeds and Land Titles Acts. These provisions will help purchasers, who would otherwise be put to some inconvenience and high legal costs.”
“Clause 30 seeks to increase this limit to the amount of Customs duty payable, if the duty exceeds $5,000. It also seeks to make it an offence for any person to omit any material particulars in a Customs declaration which he is required to disclose. The proposed amendments are aimed at deterring evasion of customs duty. Presently, the Customs Department has to rely on the Police for action under the Minor Offences Act against persons who abuse its officers. The penalty as provided in the Act is a fine not exceeding $50. Clause 31 proposes to empower Customs to deal with such an offence, and clause 32 increases the penalty from $2,000 to $3,000. This will enable Customs to prosecute offenders expeditiously and is intended to be an effective deterrent. The other amendments are either consequential or are designed to tidy up procedural matters. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -[Mr Hon Sui Sen]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. JURONG TOWN CORPORATION (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 5.19 p.m.”
“Under clause 22, section 84 of the Customs Act is amended to empower the proper officer of customs to require a person to give information or produce documents at a specified customs office or station. Clause 23 seeks to amend section 91 of the Act to enable the Comptroller of Customs to charge such fees as may be appropriate for the supply of customs documents or for rendering services to the public. These services include supervising the operations in a factory or warehouse, attending to the destruction of dutiable goods, and overseeing the packing and sealing of cases and packages of duty-paid goods for re-export under the draw-back scheme. There is, at present, no provision for customs officers to search premises of importers for documents in connection with under-declarations and revenue evasion. As such searches are an essential part of Customs preventive and revenue evasion work, it is proposed in clause 24 to amend section 94 of the Customs Act to specifically empower customs officers to search premises for this purpose. The inclusion of the new section 99A under clause 27 is to legalise the setting up of road barriers by customs officers in the course of their duty. This provision is to protect customs officers from any claims arising out of any accident caused by these road barriers. Under clause 28, a new section 109A is included to provide that any report from a Government chemist on any matter submitted to him for examination may be used as prima facie evidence by the prosecution in any proceedings for an offence under the Customs Act. The maximum fine for making incorrect declarations or falsifying documents as provided under section 119 of the Customs Act is $5,000.”
“Despite this limitation, Customs has exercised control by requesting ships which call at the port to supply lists of such goods. Clauses 6, 7, 10 and 12 propose to amend sections 29, 34, 39 and 43 of the Customs Act respectively to give legislative sanction to the existing practice in customs control and supervision of dutiable goods in transit. Clause 10 seeks also to amend section 40 of the Customs Act to empower the Comptroller of Customs to hold the master, owner or agent of the vessel, or the pilot, owner or agent of the aircraft, or the station master of a railway station responsible for dutiable goods found short or missing on board a vessel, aircraft or train. This is intended to prevent smuggling and to make masters of vessels more cautious when endorsing manifests. Clause 15 proposes to amend section 61 of the Customs Act to ensure that a licence is taken out before intoxicating liquors imported in bulk are bottled. The existing provisions in the Customs Act do not require a wholesaler to obtain a licence to sell beer or a retailer who sells beer in bottles which have not been opened from Customs control for consumption elsewhere than at the place of sale. In practice, consumption often takes place at retail beer shop premises. Clauses 16, 17, 18 and 19 therefore seek to amend sections 64, 65, 67 and 70 respectively of the Act to provide for licensing the sale of beer by wholesale or retail. A licence will now be issued only when health, police and customs requirements are met. This will enable a more meaningful and manageable control to be exercised over the licensees.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Bill seeks to amend the Customs Act (Chapter 133 of the Revised Edition) to strengthen and improve customs enforcement and administrative procedures. Clause 3 seeks to amend section 18 of the Customs Act to empower the Comptroller of Customs to refund composition fines which have been overpaid or erroneously paid. At present, all applications for such refunds have to be referred to the Minister for Finance. This amendment is intended to facilitate administrative procedures. Clause 4 proposes to amend section 20 of the Customs Act to render customs duty payable at the time instead of, as presently provided, "on the day" of the removal of the goods from customs control. The amendment is intended to enable immediate changes of duty to be imposed at any time of the day, for example, at 3 p.m, instead of only at midnight, so that the revised rates will be immediately effective upon removal or release of the goods. Section 21(8) (c) of the Customs Act provides that the rate of exchange for assessing the duty on imports shall be based on the rate existing at the time the goods are removed from a Government warehouse, licensed factory warehouse or licensed warehouse. Clause 5 substitutes for this a provision merely that the rate of exchange for the assessment of import duty shall be the rate at the time customs duty is paid. This amendment is introduced as, in practice, goods are removed often not from licensed warehouses but from the Free Trade Zone or at the point of entry such as Woodlands. The Customs Act at present is deficient in provisions for the control and supervision of dutiable goods in transit.”
“The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.-[Mr Hon Sui Sen]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. CUSTOMS (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 5.05 p.m.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Honourable Members of the House will recall that in my Budget Speech early this year, among the tax concessions which I announced was one for the relief from estate duty by a combination of exemption and remission. The reasons for the relief were explained fully at that time and I do not, therefore, propose to repeat them here. I need only say that this Bill seeks to provide the relief announced by amending the Estate Duty Act (Chapter 137 of the Revised Edition) to set higher limits of exemption of estate duty at $50,000 of the principal value of the estate passing on or after 1st April, 1974. It is intended that a Remission Order will be made also to take effect on the same date, remitting estate duty at a progressively declining rate, by 10 per cent for every $20,000 in excess of the principal value of $50,000. Clause 2 amends subsection (1) (g) of section 6 of the principal Act to provide for assessment of an estate passing on or after 9th August, 1965, and before 1st April, 1974, at the graduated scales set forth in the Fifth Schedule to the principal Act. It also adds a new subsection (1) (h) to provide for the assessment of an estate passing on or after 1st April, 1974, at the rates given in the Eighth Schedule to this Act. Clause 3 makes an amendment to the Fifth Schedule so that in the case of an estate passing before 1st April, 1974, the estate duty rates given in this Schedule shall continue to apply. Clause 4 introduces the new Eighth Schedule which provides for exemption of estate duty on the first $50,000 of the principal value of the estate. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.”
“Mr Teong Eng Siong asked the Minister for Education, since the establishment of the Industrial Training Board in April 1973, (a) how many students have graduated from institutions of the Board, and whether they have been able to find suitable employment in industrial establishments; and (b) how many of the Board's training officers, instructors, etc., have resigned and the reasons for their resignations, and what steps his Ministry is taking to prevent further loss of these specialists.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board has since December 1970 introduced the Tourist Promotion (Licensing and Control of Tourist Agencies) Regulations to license and control tour agencies. So far, 150 tour agencies conducting local tours have been licensed. Among these, 38 are agents of the Singapore Airlines and 54 of them also conduct overseas group tours. There have been seven cases of complaints of breach of contract lodged with the Board against licensed tourist agencies. All these cases have been amicably settled between the parties concerned. Where complainants appear to have reason to feel cheated., the agencies have, on the advice of the Board, paid compensation. Where services rendered have been poor, the agencies have been warned to maintain a reasonable standard or have their licences revoked. The Board has, therefore, been able to influence and, if necessary, exercise effective control over licensed tourist agencies. To protect members of the public from being taken for a ride, as the Member for Delta puts it, by fly-by-night travel agencies, I have asked the Board to introduce regulations to require any person or company engaged in the business of a tour agency to take out a licence, even where it handles only outward travel. The amendments to the regulations to empower the Board to license local tourist agencies handling outward travel are being drawn up. Until the new regulations are brought into force, it is suggested that Singapore residents book their passages for their travel abroad through the 54 licensed Singapore tour agencies conducting overseas tours. The names of these licensed agencies can be obtained from the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. INDUSTRIAL TRAINING BOARD (Graduations, and resignation of professional staff) 5.”
“Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. JETTY AT KRANJI INDUSTRIAL ESTATE 6.04 p.m.”
“This fidelity fund will be increased annually by payments into it of a sum that is equal to 10 per cent or more of the net income of a stock exchange. If a fidelity fund falls below $2 million or such other sum as the Minister may determine, the Committee of a stock exchange shall take such steps to make up the deficiency as are provided for in section 68. If at any time a fidelity fund is not sufficient to meet liabilities, the Committee may impose a levy of such amount as it thinks fit on a member company but this levy must not exceed $100,000 in the aggregate (clause 24). The only other amendments that call for special mention appear in clause 33 which amends section 95 of the Act and in clause 3 which amends section 7. The amendment to section 95 empowers the Registrar to compound the less serious offences which are punishable only by a fine whether under the Act or under the Regulations. This provision is a standard one and is to be found in many of our Acts. The amendment proposed in clause 3 is designed to facilitate the administration of the Act in relation to the Minister's approval of amendments proposed to Stock Exchange Rules. The existing provision in section 7 has proved to be inappropriate and inconvenient for it does not allow sufficient time for the Minister to consider the matter, particularly where as in most instances the Securities Industry Council is asked to make its recommendations to the Minister on the proposed amendments. The time element referred to in the existing provision has accordingly been deleted. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Hon Sui Sen].”
“There is, in any event, no need, having regard to the new provision inserted in this Part of the Act dealing with fidelity funds, for interest derived from investment of deposits received by the Exchange to be credited to a fidelity fund. With regard to the fidelity fund provisions themselves, some significant changes are proposed. At the present time the Fidelity Fund of the Stock Exchange of Singapore stands at over $2 million though section 68 of the Act envisages an amount of $1 million. This large amount of fund money is derived mainly from the transfer from the fidelity fund that was held jointly by the Singapore and Malaysian Stock Exchange and not from contributions to the fund by individual stockbrokers. Having regard to the present state of fidelity fund as well as the proposals for increasing the fund by annual transfers from the Stock Exchange General Fund, Government considers that the requirement in section 67 that stockbrokers should make an annual contribution of $1,000 - which is, in any event, a comparatively small amount bearing in mind the total membership of the Exchange - to the fund, is not necessary as regards the existing Stock Exchange and inadequate if another stock exchange is created; for annual contributions are not likely to be sufficient to meet any liabilities that might arise due to the failure of even one member company. It is essential that a substantial amount of money should already be in a fidelity fund on its establishment. Under the new sections 67 and 68 a fidelity fund will consist of an amount that is not less than $2 million or such other sum as the Minister may by order determine.”
“The position of remisiers will remain unchanged in this regard for they also will be required to take out licences as dealers' representatives. The amendment to section 14 will have the additional advantage of streamlining the licensing provisions and make the administration of the licensing provisions and the regulations so much the easier. Accordingly, all references in the Act to dealers who are partners in a firm or sole dealers have been deleted, and the Act has been further amended in various respects to give effect to the new concept. Part VIII of the Act which deals with investment of stockbroker's funds is repealed though this will not affect the obligation of a dealer to maintain a trust account under other provisions of the Act. Experience has shown that the existing Part VIII presents serious practical difficulties to the Stock Exchange if it is to be implemented effectively. As required by the existing section 54, the member company must deposit with a stock exchange an amount that is not less than the prescribed part of the lowest balance in the company's trust account during the relevant period (i.e. 12 months). This formula is difficult to implement since it is not possible for the Stock Exchange to know the lowest balance unless a member company submits daily bank statements or cash books - this would place an unnecessary burden upon member companies and lead to all kinds of practical difficulties. Furthermore, the requirement in this Part that the Stock Exchange has to place its deposits from member companies in interest bearing accounts with banks creates further problems since money so deposited with the Stock Exchange are repayable upon demand.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Although this Bill would appear to introduce a large number of amendments to the Act, the bulk of them are merely consequential amendments that arise as a result of three major amendments that are proposed. These amendments appear in clause 2 (dealing with dealer's licences), in clause 19 (repealing Part VIII of the Act which provides for investment of stockbroker's funds) and in clause 23 which makes new provision for the Stock Exchange fidelity fund. I shall deal with these three topics in numerical order. At the time the Act was drafted persons could carry on the business of dealing in securities as a sole trader, as partner in a member firm or as director of a member company. This is no longer the position. Under the new Stock Exchange rules only persons who are directors of a member company can now be admitted as members of the Stock Exchange. The intention of clause 2 is, therefore, to reflect the position as it exists on the Stock Exchange by providing that a dealer's licence shall be granted only to a corporation. The great merit in this conceptual change is that corporations that deal in securities will be subject not only to the Act itself but also to the detailed provisions of the Companies Act (Cap. 185). This will undoubtedly operate to the advantage of the investing public because of the greater measure of control that can be exercised through the Companies Act. Under the existing provisions stockbrokers are required to take out an individual dealer's licence but under the new proposals they will be required to be licensed as dealers' representatives, that is to say, as representatives of the corporation that employs them or with which they have an arrangement as directors.”
“The Government takes the view that for the Code to be really effective something more than this is needed although we still adhere to our conviction that, in the highly technical field of take-overs and mergers, a non-statutory code is a better way of dealing with this subject than by Act of Parliament. The new subsection makes it clear that breach of the Code is not a criminal offence. The Code may be revised from time to time and the public will be advised of such revision by notification in the Gazette. The Securities Industry Council may from time to time issue rulings on the interpretation of the Code and lay down rules of practice. It is not intended that these rulings should be challenged in the courts or that the Code will be subject to judicial interpretation for the Code is concerned with standards of conduct to be followed in take-overs and mergers. Members will also note that in clause 15 a provision is inserted in relation to the rulings of the Securities Industry Council and lays down that directors in the exercise of their powers are entitled to have regard to these rulings. The Explanatory Statement refers to the remaining amendments proposed in the Bill and I need not elaborate upon them. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Hon Sui Sen]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. SECURITIES INDUSTRY (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 5.52 p.m.”
“Clause 16 introduces a new section 133A which prohibits in subsection (1) thereof a company from making a loan to another company or to provide any security for a loan to another company if directors have an interest in the shares of the other company equal to one-fifth or more of the nominal value of its equity share capital; and also prohibits loans to persons who are members of the family of any of its directors. There are, however, certain specific exclusions in subsection (3) of this section which should be noted. The interest of a member of a director's family is treated as an interest of the director for the purposes of subsection (1). The purpose of this amendment is to close a loophole which at present exists under section 133 of the Act which prohibits a company from making loans to its directors. This section can be circumvented by making loans to a company in which a director of the lending company has effective control. The remaining major amendment to which I would wish to comment upon appears in clause 19 which amends section 179 dealing with take-overs. The purpose of this amendment is to clarify the status of the Singapore Code on Take-overs and Mergers. The Code is not a statutory code but it is intended that it should have statutory backing and should have a locus standi in relation to the Government. For this reason it is expressly recognised by statute as is the Securities Industry Council which administers it. Although the Code is modelled on the City Code on Take-overs and Mergers, that Code has not been recognised in any legislation in the United Kingdom - it is regarded purely as a measure for voluntary self-regulation.”
“This provision serves to emphasise the duty that a company has to its employees and may be compared with clause 4 which includes amongst the powers of a company to make provision for the benefit of employees and former employees upon the cessation of the business of a company or any subsidiary. This clause introduces two new provisions which are important. In section 132D it is provided that approval of a company in general meeting is required before directors of a company issue shares. The unfettered discretion of directors to issue shares (once authorised) has sometimes worked to the detriment of shareholders, for example, by diluting shareholders' capital in certain circumstances. The imposition of the proposed form of control will apply to the issue of shares for cash or for other consideration. Its effect will be to give more control to shareholders without interfering unduly with the directors' business of managing the company. The provisions in section l32C is a restatement of the law as at present appears in section 35 (3) of the Act. Power is given to the court on the application of a member of the company to prevent directors from carrying into effect proposals for disposing of the whole or substantially the whole of the company's undertaking or property; but if directors contravene this requirement that such a disposal should be approved by the company in general meeting the transaction will not affect a purchaser for consideration who acquires the property without actual notice of the contravention.”
“However, there are circumstances in which concealment of a beneficial interest in a shareholding can be undesirable. I refer particularly to the situation known as "warehousing", in which a number of parties act in undisclosed concert in such a way as not to bring their interest within the existing provisions dealing with substantial shareholders. These provisions require that those with an interest in the equity of a company of 10 per cent or more have to disclose their interest. Persons can evade the provisions by acting in concert and acquiring shareholdings amounting to, for example, 9.5 per cent. This enables such persons to acquire by stealth a dominant position in a company, particularly in a take-over situation. Government considers that the risk of abuse of the nominee system in this regard will be minimised if the notification percentage is reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, and if the notification, in which changes or cessation of a substantial shareholding are to be given to the company, is reduced from 14 days to seven days (clause 9). A further provision is inserted which will enable a company to know if a warehouse situation is developing or if it is a target for a take-over bid. This provision confers the right upon a company to ascertain the real identity of the owners of its shares (clause 12). Other major amendments proposed in the Bill are concerned with the powers and duties of directors. Clause 15 lays down in a new section 132B that the matter in which directors of a company are entitled to have regard are the interest of its employees as well as its members.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The reasons for introducing this Bill are the same as those I mentioned in introducing the amending Acts of 1971 and 1973, namely, to give effect to recommendations by the U.K. Jenkins Committee Report on Company Law Reform, particularly insofar as these recommendations affect the principle of greater disclosure of information by companies as a safeguard against malpractices and the powers and duties of directors. Disclosure of information is an essential part of the working of a free and fair economic system, subject to certain limitations to allow for competitive situations. Under existing legislation, substantial powers already exist to require disclosure by directors in their accounts or in relation to contracts in which they have an interest, or in any dealings they may have in their company shares (including insider dealings) and so on. This Bill extends the disclosure principle by requiring that the interests of members of a director's family in contracts with the company shall be treated as an interest of a director and will need to be disclosed to fellow directors (clause 14), and by requiring a director who acquires or disposes of shares in his company which are listed on a Stock Exchange to notify a Stock Exchange which may publish the information (clause 17), and by providing that there should be clear and specific disclosure in general meeting of any alteration in directors' emoluments (clause 18). On a previous occasion in this House, I have made the point that there is nothing inherently wrong in the practice of holding shares through nominees and there are many circumstances in which the practice is both normal and convenient on commercial and personal grounds.”
“That depends also on the interest rate which is charged, and I think many employers and certainly the Government and the statutory boards have given housing loans at lower interest rates.”
“I agree with the Member for Changi that when it comes to flats costing $200,000 and over, or detached houses of the same value, it is very unlikely that an executive drawing $1,500 a month will be able to afford the instalments, which he will be required to pay for the flat. But there are other types of housing, like the terrace houses, semi-detached houses and flats which are not in the $200,000 class. I think there are flats costing around $100,000 or even less.”
“Sir, on the questions which have been raised, it is possible to give answers on a very general basis. My Ministry of Finance has monitored the prices of houses since we announced the Government policy on this matter. We notice, first of all, a tendency for prices to remain relatively stable. In the few cases that we have monitored in different housing estates, we have noticed a fall in prices of 10-20 per cent. In other cases, of course, we have seen that there was a sort of stabilisation in the price. In certain cases, however, some flats have even gone up in price, hut this may be due perhaps to furniture and furnishings, air-conditioning, and so on, which we do not know very much about. The data I have are not sufficiently detailed for an analysis to be made, but I am quite sure that there has been some effect upon the announcement of Government's policy since last September. The Member for Kim Seng was quite right in saying that we should also build more flats in condominium type units for the middle income group. We certainly are going to do this. I believe my colleague here has announced that even the Housing and Development Board is going to build some flats for people who do not qualify now as they are above the $1,500 per month household income. While I agree that we should build these units, I think we must tackle the problem from as many fronts as possible, and the Bill which I am taking through all its stages here today will help to reduce or stabilise prices of the kind of housing which the middle income groups may be able to purchase.”
“The present Bill is, therefore, to give effect to the second of these measures in Government's stated policy. Clause 4 enables rules to be published in the Gazette to exempt certain classes of persons or categories from payment of the surcharge. Exemption of the surcharge will be granted to the following categories of properties: (a) Properties owned by a Singapore citizen or a permanent resident of Singapore including all owner-occupied HDB fiats and temporary structures; (b) Properties owned by a company registered in Singapore and carrying on business in Singapore; (c) Properties owned by an association, club, society or an approved body registered in Singapore; and (d) Industrial and commercial built-up properties irrespective of ownership. Clause 5 vests in the President the power to vary the rate of surcharge. Clause 6 provides for the situation where a residential property is jointly owned by either a Singapore citizen or a permanent resident and a non-citizen. In such cases, the Comptroller is given discretionary power to remit wholly or in part the property tax surcharge payable, if he is satisfied that the property is occupied by the joint owners and that payment of the surcharge will result in hardship. Clauses 8, 9 and 11 make provisions for the Comptroller of Property Tax to seek information and prescribe forms or returns for effective enforcement and collection of the surcharge. Clause 10 provides that if an offence is committed to evade the surcharge, any person on conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000. When fraud is involved, the penalty will be five times the surcharge not including a further fine of $5,000 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or both fine and imprisonment. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time," The Bill proposes to impose with effect from 1st January, 1974, a surcharge of 10 per cent on the annual values of real estate, other than industrial and commercial properties, not owned by citizens of Singapore or permanent residents. The Bill has arisen from Government's concern with the speculation on residential properties and vacant land and the consequent escalation in their prices. The steep rise in prices is attributable to, among other factors, purchases by non-residents. Those of our local citizens and permanent residents who do not qualify for Housing Board flats, therefore, find their hope of purchasing their own homes from private housing estates frustrated by prices beyond their means to pay. It is the objective of the Government to realise a scheme for widespread home ownership amongst its citizens and permanent residents. To ensure the success of such a scheme, Government announced in September last year that only Singapore citizens would be eligible to purchase residential properties and vacant land with effect from September, 1973. Permanent residents, non-citizens and others may be allowed to purchase residential properties or vacant lands only with the approval of the Government. The imposition of a property tax surcharge, equal to 10 per cent of the annual values of properties and land, was also announced as a further measure aimed at curbing excessive speculation in real estate and stabilising prices of residential properties and vacant land. Both these measures are designed to assist the many young executives, professionals, etc, among its citizens ineligible for Housing Board units to purchase their own homes.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third time." Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed. ADJOURNMENT Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn." - [Mr Hon Sui Sen]. Adjourned accordingly at Six minutes to Eight o'clock p.m.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, the purpose of this Bill is to provide statutory authority in accordance with clause 2 of Article 85 and clause 2 of Article 87 of the Constitution of Singapore for additional provisions to meet expenditure in excess of the provisions authorised by the Supply Act of 1973. These additional sums have been scheduled as Supplementary Estimates which have been considered and approved by the House as Cmd. Paper 7 of 1974. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time. Third Reading”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third time." Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed. SUPPLEMENTARY SUPPLY BILL Order for Second and Third Readings read. 7.53 p.m.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." In accordance with Article 85 of the Constitution of Singapore, heads of expenditure to be met from the Consolidated Fund, other than Statutory Expenditure, have to be included in the Bill to be known as the Supply Bill. The purpose of the Supply Bill before Members is, therefore, to give legislative approval for the appropriations from the Consolidated Fund to meet expenditure in the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975. In the Schedule to the Bill, the various heads of expenditure and the sums that may be incurred in respect of each head are shown. These have been approved by the House in the Main Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, and appear on pages 45, 46 and 47 of Cmd. Paper No. 5 of 1974. The Supply Bill, when approved, will empower me to issue warrants authorising expenditure up to the amount for each head as shown in the Bill to be paid out from the Consolidated Fund. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time. Third Reading”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions." Question put, and agreed to. Resolutions accordingly agreed to. SUPPLY BILL Order for Second and Third Readings read. 7.51 p.m.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has come to certain resolutions. First Resolution reported - "That the sum of 51,943.129,650 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, contained in Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974." Second Resolution reported - "That the sum of $1,561,647,440 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, contained in Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974."”
“If he is serious, perhaps he can send me a memorandum, as I have suggested, giving the reasons why they should be given tax relief, whether they really want to take advantage of a fairly small relief, and at what rate we should compensate these blood donors for their blood. The general principle which the hospitals have assumed is that blood donation is not something which should be paid for. In fact, in certain countries I believe payment is made for blood donations, and this is more direct. But he is suggesting an indirect method, and perhaps the principle of no payment for a donation is a good one which I commend for his consideration.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, with regard to the Member for Jalan Kayu's comments - he is not here now, but perhaps I can still answer them. He said that there were loopholes which were taken advantage of by people who were non-salaried, such as towkays and so on. May I assure him that these loopholes are being looked into all the time. Some Members have even commented that we have recognised the value of the contributions which the Income Tax staff have made towards closing the loopholes and punishing those found to have taken undue advantage of these loopholes, assuming they were not legal loopholes. The Member for Telok Blangah has complained about the income tax forms and the additional amount of time it requires to fill in these forms even with the assistance of the Inland Revenue Department. Perhaps he may console himself to be in good company with people like Dr Albert Einstein who could not fill up his income tax form correctly. But there is also a very simple explanation as to why it now takes longer for him to fill his forms, and this may be that his income is getting more complicated! The Member for Bukit Ho Swee suggested that we should tax the hawkers. I do not want to make a general investigation, but I would be quite prepared to consider an investigation into certain hawkers who are making more than professional people only if I could be supplied with a list by Members of all such hawkers in their respective constituencies. I would be happy to do it. The Member for Delta has pressed again for tax relief for blood donors.”
“The Member for Delta did not think very much of the relief for keeping gardens and thought perhaps it should be eliminated because the relief is not of general application. Instead, he wanted relief for blood donation in the same way as relief for charitable contributions. I only wish blood donors were of such great numbers to be of significance that this principle of relief, being of general application, can also be applied to relief for blood donation. I think our blood donors are so generous that they do not mind forgoing this slight relief. As for the Member for Jalan Kayu, he made the point that the salaried earners should be differentiated from people who receive their income from property and other sources. There is already this differentiation in the earned income relief, although I admit that the incomes from profits, which are also earned, fall within this relief. I do not see how we can really distinguish them and why should there be any distinction between a salaried income worker and a man who by his own effort makes a profit on his business. I agree with him that perhaps the middle income group feel the burden of income tax most because as they go up the scale, the rates for income tax, being progressive, become higher and higher and, therefore, they feel that it is very burdensome to have to pay income tax. Perhaps they can live in the hope that when they go to the top bracket there will be no further progressive taxation beyond that.”
“Sir, I will deal first with the Member for Anson. The income tax return forms fo the year of assessment 1974 were drafted and printed in the second half of 1973, when the regulation relating to relief for maintenance of aged parents was not ready. A supplementary form therefore has to be used for this year. The parent-relief requirement, however, will be incorporated in the income tax returns for future years. The tax relief for maintenance of gardens is not an exemption, but a concession by way of remission and is subject to approval from year to year. Besides, the claim form for garden relief has to be certified by an authorised person and tax-payers may not want others to know the details of their income when they go to this authorised person for his signature on the forms. So a separate form for claiming the garden relief is, therefore, necessary. 4.15 p.m. The format of the income tax return form has been made as simple as possible and most taxpayers have become quite familiar with it. Explanatory notes are also attached to the forms to assist taxpayers in filling up the forms. If any taxpayer still finds difficulty in filling up the forms, he can contact the Income Tax Department which is always ready to give information and assistance. There is no record kept of forms incorrectly filled up so that I cannot answer the Member's question. But I am told that, judging from experience, the majority of forms received have been correctly completed. As regards giving increasing personal reliefs, I have already explained in detail in my answers to the Member for Paya Lebar and other Members, and I do not think I have anything else to add to what I have already stated.”
“Sir, as the Member has noted, I have stated earlier in reply to the Member for River Valley and others that the legislation for consumer protection requires study to ensure that there is no danger of accusation of erecting non-tariff barriers, and to prevent duplication of legislation such as we already have in specific Acts, which protect Singaporeans from health and safety hazards, and also from the more recently enacted legislation of some urgency. My Ministry is, however, prepared to examine the need for enacting further legislation for consumer protection. I certainly would welcome worthwhile suggestions from CASE and other consumer associations to facilitate the study for further legislation. To start this examination of the need for further legislation, perhaps CASE or the Member for Potong Pasir could send me a memorandum outlining the special areas he wishes to have considered early. My officers can then look at it, and then perhaps there could be a discussion between him and my Ministry.”
“The JTC contractor is responsible for collecting refuse from refuse chutes and transporting it to the various bin centres where they are collected by the Public Health Division. The JTC has a team of supervisors to ensure that the refuse collection contractor does his work regularly and properly. Another question which the Member asked is: will the JTC consider relaxing its rule regarding renting of flats to allow a family with only one member who is a Singapore citizen to apply? The present policy adopted by the JTC for the renting of flats is that the applicant must be a Singapore citizen and the majority of his family must either be Singapore citizens or permanent residents. Single citizens are not eligible for JTC flats. This policy on low-cost housing follows that of the HDB, and it is considered undesirable for JTC to deviate from this policy, thus setting up two standards. Finally, about the luxury type of flats now under construction, he asked: when will they be completed and open for application, and what will the price be? The two blocks of 20-storey flats comprising 144 units at Yuan Ching Road, Jurong Town, are expected to be completed by the fourth-quarter of this year. The selling price of these flats will be fixed after work has been completed, so that a proper costing can be computed. These flats are built to meet the needs of top executives working in Jurong Town.”
“The Member also wanted to know whether the JTC will ensure that, in planning and building residential premises, other essential amenities such as shop houses, markets and schools are provided at the same time. The answer is that, in the planning and building of residential neighbourhoods, the JTC ensures that not only all essential amenities, such as shops and markets, are provided but also as far as possible that these amenities are completed about the same time the flats become tenantable. It works closely with the Ministry of Education in providing sites for the construction of schools. The Member asked whether the JTC will consider granting concession rates to the Jurong Town residents when they visit the various parks and gardens or use the various sports facilities. The JTC developed a 70-acre park land, beside the Jurong Lake, consisting of undulating wooded areas, parks and pavilions for the use of the public, including Jurong Town residents, free of charge. The admission charges for the Japanese Garden at 40 cents for an adult and 20 cents for a child are already concessionary rates. This garden is not built solely for Jurong residents but also for the enjoyment of all Singapore residents and tourists. As such, it is not possible to reduce the rates for Jurong Town residents. As for the sporting facilities under JTC control, the charges for their use are nominal and are about the same as those charged elsewhere in Singapore. It is not considered necessary to grant further concessions to Jurong Town residents. The Member asked whether the JTC supervises the work of refuse collection contractor to ensure that regular collection is done and that the areas are cleaned up after removal.”
“Sir, I think I ought to explain that while I am responsible for the general performance and policy relating to the Jurong Town Corporation, I am not aware of the day-to-day details of its operations, nor can I be expected to go into them in full detail. Subject to these comments, I will try my best to answer the questions which have been raised by the Member for Jurong. He asked: when will the Town Hall be ready for occupation; when will the JTC office remove to this Hall, and will there be an office after the removal of the main office to the Town Hall? I understand that the Jurong Town Corporation hopes to move its offices to the Jurong Town Hall next month. It will maintain an area office in part of its present premises for the collection of rentals, maintenance of flats, and it will also set up similar area offices in other neighbourhoods that it develops. The next area office will be set up at Neighbourhood II, Boon Lay Garden in Jurong Town. The Member also complained of poor supervision over construction of flats. The JTC, I understand, tries to exercise very strict supervision over all its construction work through its team of engineers, technical officers and particularly the clerks-of-works. If, in fact, there are really cases of unusually bad workmanship, perhaps the Member for Jurong can give the particulars to me and I will look into this matter further. The Member also asked about JTC setting up a Hawkers and Markets Division. The JTC is in the process of setting up a Hawkers and Markets Division to manage all markets and hawker centres in the industrial and housing estates under its control. This will, I assume, include Sembawang, which the Member mentioned. This new Division will also control unlicensed hawkers in all JTC areas.”
“Sir, there is a fairly simple explanation. Let me deal first with the difference in the provision for CPF/MPF contributions. The provision for FY 74 is much larger than that for FY 73 because of two factors. First, about 62 per cent of the Division III and Division IV officers opted to leave the pension scheme to join the CPF scheme. Second, the 9 per cent wage supplement which became payable from July, 1973, involved additional CPF contributions. Both these factors could not be estimated even if they were foreseen at the time of preparing the Budget estimates for FY 73. As for non-pensionable allowances, the provision for FY 74 is much larger than that for FY 73 because the former includes the 9 per cent wage supplement which came into effect from July, 1973. Again no fore-knowledge of this factor was available at the time of preparing the estimates for FY 73. The increases in respect of these two subheads vary from subhead to subhead because of establishment differences. For example, a Ministry or department which has a high proportion of super-scale posts can be expected to show a large increase in non-pensionable allowances owing to the salary revision for such posts in 1973. Similarly, a Ministry or department in which many of the Divisions III and IV officers have opted out of the pension scheme for the CPF scheme will have a large increase in the provision for CPF contribution.”
“And when we impose a tariff, we do so only for very good reasons.”
“I mentioned in my Budget Statement that while this anti-inflationary policy would not be relaxed, resources would be made available to facilitate economic growth. Members may wish to know therefore that as a result of the monetary measures implemented recently, the tight liquidity situation in the inter-bank money market has eased. Inter-bank interest rates have moved from about 11 per cent to a more reasonable level of 9 per cent. With the reduction of the special deposit ratio from 5 per cent to zero per cent in early March by the Monetary Authority, a significant sum of $73 million was released to the banking system to finance investments and productive activities. It is, of course, necessary that the funds being released are directed towards financing the activities of productive enterprises and not for inflationary spending and speculation. The Member for Delta can therefore rest assured that the liquidity situation will not be allowed to inhibit economic growth. Finally, I think there are two comments and two different points of view by the Member for Jurong and the Member for Potong Pasir. The Member for Jurong complained that the lifting of the tariff on frozen chicken has affected the livelihood of farmers. He wants to know whether I will reimpose the tax. The purpose of lifting the tax is to act against inflation of prices, which we thought had perhaps gone too far. And the price of chicken has since come down, and therefore it has to that extent achieved our purpose. The Member for Potong Pasir made comments that he hoped that we would lift further taxes in order to fight inflation. In every case we consider, of course, the respective merits of the effect on inflation and also the effect on our manufacturers as well as our primary producers.”
“The Member also suggested action for promoting sales of locally made goods. The Government has always been conscious of the need for export promotion and the Exports Promotion Unit was initially set up in the Economic Development Division to fulfil this function in line with an active trade policy to widen domestic and overseas markets for manufactured goods. Since 1972 this Unit has been transferred to the Department of Trade. The Unit maintains a library service to provide both product and area information. A number of seminars have been organised to help medium and small-sized manufacturers to break into the export market. The Unit through the Commercial Secretary stationed in Singapore missions overseas also help traders and manufacturers to get in touch with foreign buyers. At the same time, buyers are actively encouraged to come to Singapore. For this purpose the Department of Trade maintains a trade register which gives relevant details of firms interested in exporting. The Member concluded his remarks with comments on staff matters. I am glad that at least one Member has remembered the need to give incentives to deserving officers. The merit increment scheme was introduced in April, 1973. In June, 1973, a total of 106 officers were awarded merit increments as follows: 88 officers ... 1 increment 15 officers ... 2 increments 3 officers ... 3 increments Thus, about 30.6 per cent of the officers who were eligible for consideration under this scheme were given merit increments. I think that deals with the queries by the Member for Anson. 3.30 p.m. The Member for Delta raised a point on the anti-inflationary monetary policy.”
“In the case of cooking oil mentioned by the Member for Anson, as prices increase some retailers who have stocks purchased at the old prices may be able to sell at the old retail prices, while popular organisations like the NTUC Welcome Supermarkets, where the turnover is much more rapid, have to pay higher prices for new stocks and are, therefore, compelled to charge higher retail prices. In any case, these prices provide a reference to what charges would be fair. The discriminating shopper should, therefore, take advantage of any lower prices and buy if he can from shops which sell more cheaply. I do not expect the NTUC Supermarket to object to this. The Member for Anson also spoke on tourist promotion. He may recall that in 1973 Singapore passed the millionth visitor's mark, and there was an increase of 28.9 per cent in the tourist traffic over the previous year. The hotel occupancy rate in 1972 was 61 per cent and this rose to 67.2 per cent in 1973, despite the increase in the number of hotel rooms from 8,358 in 1972 to 9,413 in 1973. This achievement was largely due to the tourist promotion and publicity efforts overseas by the Tourist Promotion Board and other bodies such as the Singapore Airlines. A major portion of the Tourist Promotion Board budget has been expended for this purpose. Our foreign missions have always supplemented the efforts of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board in promoting Singapore as a tourist centre by the dissemination of tourist brochures and information. However, since tourist promotion is a specialised function, this is done more extensively by the overseas offices of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board which are established in countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia, the major tourist markets.”
“Only when consumers, armed with this information, refrain from buying from high-priced shops and make selective purchases from shops which sell at fair prices can the Government's efforts be assured of success. In the long run this is the only way to deal with sellers who round up their prices to the next five or ten cents, as complained by the Member. At the end of 1973, there were 35 million one-cent coins recorded as being in circulation, and there is really no excuse for sellers not to fix prices to the cent, especially for the lower priced goods where a few cents represent a significant percentage of the price. If there is any difficulty in getting one-cent coins, I think the Currency Board is always ready to issue more coins. The existing machinery in the Department of Trade for the dissemination of price and supply information and the investigation of complaints on profiteering will be consolidated. The Singapore Manufacturers Association will also be helping in the fight against profiteering by, firstly, doing their best to print the prices upon their products wherever possible and, secondly, keeping the Department of Trade informed of price increases. The Member for Anson mentioned that he was aware of over-charging by CASE or the Welcome Supermarket. Perhaps he should forward his inquiries to the Member for Potong Pasir and the Member for Boon Teck. However, if I am asked to answer this particular question, I would venture to say that for a limited range of goods the prices charged in the small retail shops can occasionally be lower than the prices charged in the NTUC Welcome Supermarket.”
“Detailed investigations on the environmental effects of such a plant and the necessity for additional safeguards against dangers to nearby areas of high density population in Singapore are being carried out with the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Member for Anson also asked how we check on development proposals. This is a rather complicated procedure. Presumably he has in mind the check aimed at ensuring that only desirable projects are allowed to go ahead. Generally, if any project falls within the framework of Government's major policies, it is prima facie a desirable project. My officials examine the various aspects of the projects, such as their scale, location, phasing, alternative aspects to achieve the same objectives and so on. When the projects have been properly evaluated, they are submitted to a Ministerial Committee, called the Development Planning Committee, for approval. Subsequently, the technical details are further vetted by the Development Planning Sub-Committee to ensure that there is no extravagance in the choice of materials or designs. The Member has also touched on inflation and price controls. I have already explained in my Budget Statement in some detail the action we have taken, and I have explained the undesirability of price control in general as an anti-inflationary measure. I have also explained the measures that Government has taken to dampen the price escalation, including action against profiteers and the promotion of consumer co-operatives - rather than fixing prices, it is more appropriate to disseminate information on prices and stocks to consumers to enable them to differentiate between unscrupulous add dependable traders, thereby enabling them to protect their own interest.”
“The Member for Anson then touched on the Government's "Save Energy" campaign. He must already be aware of the effects of the campaign which began last November and the result of the efforts of the public to restrict consumption of petroleum fuel and electricity. We made a list of suggestions to guide the public in the efficient use of fuel and electricity and gave extensive coverage in the local newspapers, radio and television to this campaign. During the last few months, the PUB sent out inspectors all round the island to ensure that there was no unnecessary lighting and that advertising lights were switched off after 9 p.m. Since the commencement of the "Save Energy" campaign, the weekly consumption of electricity, as most Members would know, has declined by an average of 10 per cent. The Control of Essential Supplies Act and the Restrictions on the Supply, Distribution and Use of Petroleum and Electricity Act enacted last year give the Government legal powers to take action against any wasteful consumption of energy, as and when necessary. I think the recent increase in the tariff rates for electricity would also act as a deterrent against excessive consumption of fuel and electricity. I think the Member also touched on alternative measures to develop new sources of energy. The PUB is replanning Stage II development of Senoko Power Station to incorporate a dual firing system which allows the use of either gas or fuel oil. The possibility of burning coal is also being examined. Another possibility, as far back as 1971, is that the Government has considered the introduction of a nuclear-based power station in the Republic. Studies involving the siting of a nuclear power station are in progress.”