Mah Bow Tan
Singapore
“The previous generation of Singaporeans overcame huge odds together to create this improbable nation which we call home. Let this generation work as one to define our country for the next lap of our journey. Sir, on this note, I fully support the amended Motion. Page: 143”
“Like all upgrading programmes, there is a certain budget, and a certain pace at which we will build. We have completed the LUP and now we are going on towards the HIP. The Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP) is ongoing.”
“For those who cannot afford home ownership, we will provide rental flats. For the rest where there is hardship involved, that is where the safety net comes in. I do not think we should make the safety net so wide as to bring in everybody.”
“Building a studio apartment is no different from building any other HDB flat. If a person applies now and the building works start now, he can get it in two-and-a-half years to three years. We have stepped up the building of studio apartments over the last couple of years.”
“Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Health (a) how many people have signed an Advance Medical Directive (AMD) and how many have revoked them since; and (b) whether there is a need to review the current rules on AMDs which do not require a person who has revoked the AMD to inform the Registrar, thus causing uncertainty for hospitals t…”
“Parents who wish to exert more control over the maximum mobile service charges incurred by their children may consider service options such as mobile pre-paid cards. IDA is aware of the public's concerns on mobile subscriptions, and will continually review policies and look into measures to further protect the interest of consumers.”
The complete record
Every one of 3,030 lines we hold for Mah Bow Tan, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 45 of 61.
“Sir, since I have some time left in this cut, may I, before I reply to Mr Goh Chee Wee on the question of ERP, take this opportunity to enlighten the House about some data that have been gathered on the Road Pricing Scheme. I am doing this because I realise that there have been some comments from the motoring public about the introduction of the Road Pricing Scheme on the various highways and expressways recently, particularly on the CTE. So I beg your indulgence on that. 1.00 pm Sir, after we introduced the RPS on our three expressways - the CTE, PIE and ECP - the traffic speeds increased dramatically, especially on the East Coast Parkway and the Pan Island Expressway. For the CTE, we did not get it quite right the first time. So we had to make subsequent modifications. But after the modifications, the traffic speeds have picked up. Conditions have improved. I realise that many people have commented that road pricing merely shifts the congestion away from the expressways to somewhere else. Or it shifts the congestion from RPS hours to either before or after. And in both cases, they wonder what is the point of it all. I have asked the LTA to conduct traffic surveys before and after the RPS was implemented, and let me just share with Members some of the results of the survey. For the three expressways, about 7,000 or 16% of the motorists using the expressways stopped using these expressways during RPS hours after introduction. 7,000 represent about 16%. About 3,000 or almost half of them switched to alternative roads, major bypass roads, as a result of which, of course, the major bypass roads have become a bit more congested.”
“Sir, Dr Toh made the point that on a per cc basis, the COE prices for motorcycles will be lower than for cars. Sir, as I explained at length yesterday, the intention of the road tax structure in the future is to base it on the apportionment of the cost that will be incurred by that particular vehicle, say, a car or a motorcycle which uses the road space. The intention is to move away from a basis like engine capacity to something more relevant to congestion, for example, the size of the vehicle. In this case, PCU will be used as a proxy for the size of a vehicle and cost of congestion. So with that intention in mind, I think the comparison of the taxes of motorcycles and cars on per cc basis would not be very relevant. As far as sham bids are concerned, I am not exactly sure what he means by "sham bids". But if I take the point that he has raised that there are bids of $1 for each of the vehicle categories, I have supplied the information to Dr Toh. If he looks at the chart, he will see that for every category and every month, there are always one or two bids of $1 or $2. So I will not regard this as sham bids in the sense that he has mentioned of creating unnecessary or false demand. These are just people who are trying their luck hoping that, by some extraordinary fluke that month, nobody will be bidding and he will be able to get a COE for $1.”
“The quick fixes have only had a transient effect and demand will remain high so long as the economy is strong, so long as people have confidence in the future. And when that is the case, in a situation where we necessarily have to restrict the supply of COEs, prices will continue to remain high. But having said that, the way to moderate COE prices is really to maintain a steady supply of COEs, as high a supply as our roads can take. That is the long-term sustainable way to moderate COE prices. And how do we intend to do this? As the White Paper on land transport has set out, if ERP is successful in controlling traffic congestion and if we can get more people to make use of public transport, the less congested our roads will be and the more we can relax on the ownership, the more COEs we can release. By increasing the supply, we will be able to moderate COE prices. Again, let us concentrate on that because that is the long-term sustainable solution to moderate COE prices. Sir, may I now ask my Minister of State to reply to the rest of the questions in this cut?”
“First of all, I think we need to remind ourselves that whichever system is used for tendering, whether it is the lowest strike price method that we are using today or whether it is the pay-as-you-bid system that has been suggested, COE prices are ultimately determined by supply and demand. If the demand for cars, or motorcycles for that matter, outstrips the supply, then the prices will go up, and vice versa. In the short history of the COE, we have seen several cycles of boom and bust, where prices had gone up and then come down fairly sharply. Our analysis of the COE bidding shows that the majority of the successful bids cluster around or close to the lowest successful bid. If you are interested in some numbers, around 70%, 80%, sometimes 90%, or even more of the bids are within plus or minus 20% of that lowest successful bid. So they all cluster around that bid. Therefore the pay-as-you-bid method may not necessarily lead to lower COE prices which, I believe, is the reason why many people are clamouring for this method. I have announced yesterday that LTA will be releasing information on the quotas, instead of a year-to-year basis, two years at one go. And this is to allow vehicle owners to better plan their purchases. 12.45 pm So, before we consider switching to other methods, for example, the pay-as-you-bid method, I think we need to rethink carefully how the COE system works. The price of COEs is determined by supply and demand. We had many experiments. We had many changes to the quota system. We had curbed transferability of the COEs. We had changed the rules to stop double transfers. What did all these results show? There has been no permanent impact on prices.”
“We limit the increase of our total vehicle population to 3% a year, and then we apportion this increase across all the different categories in as fair a manner as possible. Then, finally, we leave it to the market to decide how much each person is prepared to pay for that COE in different categories. So if you ask: are motorcycle COEs affordable? I guess the answer depends on who you ask. But the fact is every month, all motorcycle COEs are taken up and there are many others who are in the queue. Are they expensive? Again, it depends on who you ask. But let me just point out that at today's prices, the motorcycle COE is less than 10% of the COE price of the smallest car category, the Category 1 car. Yesterday I pointed out that traffic engineers advise us that a moving motorcycle on the road will occupy something like 70% road space of a moving car. On that basis, in terms of relativity, you could argue that motorcycle COEs are not expensive relative to other types of vehicles which use our roads. Finally, of course, I must point out that the revenue from COEs is used for the public good, to build infrastructure, to build new MRT lines, LRT lines, for the benefit of all Singaporeans, including the lower income group. Nevertheless, I take note of Dr Toh's concern for the small motorcycle owners and we will take this into account when we review the motorcycle tax structure. Dr Toh also suggested that we try out the pay-as-you-bid system for COEs. He mentioned that car dealers are pushing up COE prices in order to squeeze out parallel importers.”
“Ideally, taxis entering the restricted zone should pay per entry if they are doing so on their own accord or if they are carrying a passenger, then the passenger should bear that charge. This will be possible with the ERP. In the transition from now till then, I think there is a case to be made for allowing taxi drivers to recover the cost of the ALS or the RPS licence from their passengers. So I would suggest to Mr Goh that he put up a proposal to the PTC for its consideration, based on the principle of cost recovery. Mr Goh also asked whether we can fix the COE price for taxis. I am not in favour of this proposal. The Vehicle Quota System (VQS) has allowed our vehicle population to grow at an average of 3% per annum since 1990, while at the same time keeping congestion under control. For the VQS to work, we have to apply it without exception to all vehicles, including the taxis. Like other vehicle owners, transport operators and companies, taxi operators must bid for addition of taxis to their fleet. Nevertheless, in recognition of their role as a form of public transport, we have given taxi operators the concession of not having to bid for COEs for the taxis that they are replacing. Instead of the COE, we have allowed them to pay the prevailing quota premium (PQP) instead. So this gives them the certainty of securing COEs when they want to replace their taxis. In addition to this, they only need to pay the PQP for Category 2 vehicles, although most taxis belong to Category 3. I turn now to the question on motorcycle COEs, posed by Dr Toh See Kiat. Dr Toh was concerned that motorcycle COE prices have risen from $1 in 1994 to about $3,000 today, and he asked whether it is affordable. Sir, like all other categories of vehicles, motorcycle COEs are in limited supply.”
“Sir, before we adjourned yesterday, Mr Chay Wai Chuen asked whether my Ministry has any plans to introduce other port operators when PSA is corporatised. Sir, the bulk of PSA's container business is in transshipment cargo. In this area of business, PSA is not a monopoly. It has to face very keen competition from other ports in the region. This external competitive pressure has kept PSA on its toes up to now and it will continue to do so after corporatisation. The singular objective of PSA must be to meet the challenge of external competition. The Government has no plans at the moment to license other port operators to compete internally with PSA. But the Government will reserve the right to introduce more port operators. There will be no exclusivity clause when PSA is corporatised. Should the situation change and internal competition become necessary, the Government will license other operators to compete with PSA. I turn now to the queries from Mr Goh Chee Wee concerning ALS and COEs for taxis. Mr Goh requested yesterday that we allow taxi drivers with the ALS/RPS licence to charge their passengers a fixed fee for entry into the CBD or for travelling through an RPS gantry. Currently, taxi drivers are not required to purchase this licence. If somebody wants to take a taxi to enter the restricted zone, he has to pay $2 or $3, whichever the case is, for the daily licence. However, if the taxis already possess the licence, they are not allowed to charge passengers extra. This is due to the current manual road pricing or ALS system which has its limitations. One such limitation is that it is not able to charge per entry or per pass which is the fairest way of charging for usage.”
“Besides providing the roads and expressways for the buses to travel on, the Government also bears the cost of bus infrastructures, such as bus interchanges and bus stops. The bus operators pay a nominal rent of $12 a year for each bus interchange. The bus operators only need to pay for their maintenance. In addition, the Government helps scheduled bus operators keep their cost low by exempting their buses from COEs and imposing low vehicle taxes. Last but not least, the Government has taken various steps to improve the operating environment for scheduled buses. By controlling the vehicle population, by implementing road pricing and establishing bus lanes, scheduled buses are able to move quickly and reliably, thus saving the bus operators valuable time and money. The bus companies have therefore been viable under this operating environment with minimal fare increases over the years. ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1997 TO 31ST MARCH, 1998 (Paper Cmd. 2 of 1997) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [5th Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head I (cont.) - Resumption of Debate on Question [28th July, 1997], That the sum to be allocated for Head I of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code IA 1500. - [Mr Chay Wai Chuen]. Question again proposed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in answer to Dr Toh's question, let me first of all say that our bus fares today are affordable. They remained unchanged between 1982 and 1990, and they increased only modestly after 1990. Average fare increase between 1990 and 1996 was 1.3%. The CPI increase over the same period was 2.6%. The fare increase was below CPI, and CPI in turn was below the increase in wages over that same period, which was 7.4%. So the increase in fares has been way below the increase in wages. In the recent fare revision approved by the Public Transport Council, bus fares were revised upwards by between 5 cents and 10 cents for commuters who use cash. There was no fare revision for commuters using fare-cards on airconditioned services. This constitutes about one-third of bus commuters. So one-third of bus commuters were not affected by the recent fare revision. As for MRT, only the single-trip cash fare was adjusted upwards by 10 cents. Again, those who opted for fare-cards were not affected, and this constitutes about 70% of MRT passengers. Even as we strive to provide a wide range of public transport options for our commuters, we will continue to ensure that basic fares remain affordable. The Public Transport Council has recently adopted a framework to ensure that any future bus or MRT fare increases will be in small, regular and controlled steps. From 1998, fare increases will be capped at no more than inflation plus 2% for the next three years. There is therefore no need for a special bus fare rebate. On the issue of Government subsidy for scheduled bus services, our bus operators have been able to keep bus fares affordable because of strong Government support over the years.”
“I have just one more topic on the Public Transport Council, Sir. Dr Michael Lim and Mr Chay Wai Chuen have asked about the Public Transport Council. I will be happy to consider their proposals to make more transparent the deliberations of the Public Transport Council. Indeed, we are currently looking at the composition of the Council and if there are any suggestions as to how to expand the Council and how to make the work of the Council more transparent, I will be happy to consider those suggestions and to pass them on to the PTC Chairman for consideration.”
“The time of completion will be the same time as the rest of the line.”
“For the construction of Hougang station, the contract has been awarded.”
“The rate of fares has not been determined yet. It is still early. The year 2002 is still some way away and the actual cost of operation and the final projections are not available as at this point in time. In principle, we have said that if it is necessary, we may have to adjust. But as at this point in time, there is nothing specific yet. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked some questions about Sengkang and Dhoby Ghaut stations. All the various phases of the North East line will be ready some time during the year 2002. It will not all obviously be ready at once, but it will be ready during the course of the year.”
“Thank you, Sir. If you will allow me to finish answering all the questions. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked some very specific questions. I have some of the answers but not all of them. I will give him what I have available and again, as I said, if he files a Question, I will be happy to provide the answers.”
“But we have, in the planning of the North East line, provided for these two stations. He asked about demolition of houses and shops in the area. The contractor will start demolishing some of the buildings affected by the MRT within a year or two. It has not been scheduled yet. I am not familiar with the schedule, but I will be happy to provide him with the details if he is interested. Nevertheless, before any work is carried out, we will make sure that the residents in the area are given ample notice.”
“In this briefing, we will be providing details about the diversion programmes, how residents will be affected during the construction works as well as the phasing of the road improvement programmes in the area. I must add at this point that the contractor is required by the terms of the contract to provide traffic diversions of a very high standard during this construction period. So what the LTA will do is to work closely with the contractor to minimize any disruption and inconvenience to residents. But I expect that there will still have to be inconvenience. So I would like to ask for the residents' support and understanding during the construction of the North East line. I think the results will be well worth their patience and understanding. Mr Chiam See Tong asked five specific questions. I am happy to tell him that the situation remains the same this year compared to last year. Nothing has changed. Basically, he asked about the funds to be set aside for building Woodsville and Sennett stations. Yes, we have, in the overall budget, provided for funds for eventually building the Woodsville and the Sennett stations. So funds are available for that. He asked whether these two stations will be constructed. As I have explained in this House to Mr Chiam several times, what determines the building of the Sennett and the Woodsville stations will be the level of usage, and the level of usage will in turn be determined by the developments around the area. At the moment, one station, Woodsville station is surrounded by cemeteries. The other station is surrounded by low-rise residential units. Obviously, the density of development at this stage is low, and it will not generate sufficient traffic to justify the stations at this point in time.”
“And when these MRT and LRT rail projects are completed, our rail network will extend to something like 130 km, 50% more than our existing network. We will also be looking for other potential sites for future LRT and MRT developments. These include an LRT for the Marina area and we are also looking at other housing estates. LTA will not only build new lines. It has recently completed a study on the feasibility of retrofitting additional stations on the existing network. The LTA has assessed that it is now feasible to operate a station outside the Singapore Polytechnic, in between the Clementi and the Buona Vista MRT stations on the East-West line. I am pleased to inform the House that Government has decided to go ahead and build this station to serve the students of the Polytechnic and residents in nearby housing estates. This station will be ready by the year 2001. Mr Goh Choon Kang asked about the disruption and the traffic congestion that will build up along the Upper Serangoon Road area during the construction of the North East line. As Mr Goh knows, recently LTA has awarded a contract for the construction of the Serangoon station, and this contract includes the road improvements works, including the construction of the pair of 3-lane flyovers with two interchanges along Upper Serangoon Road. This is the junction of Upper Serangoon/Braddell/Bartley Roads and the Upper Serangon/Paya Lebar Roads, two interchanges very close to one another. Yes, residents in this area can expect some inconvenience, some traffic diversions, during the construction phase. What the LTA will do will be to arrange for briefing for MPs and grassroots leaders in the area once the construction details are available.”
“Sir, while we seek to restrain private vehicles, we need to actively work to improve public transport and to provide alternative transport modes. The White Paper on land transport mentions that public transport will be the cornerstone of a world class transport system. Already today, our public transport system offers much more capacity than, say, 10 years ago. In terms of the generally recognised indicators like place kilometres, overall capacity of bus and MRT has increased by more than 60% from 1986 to 1996. And it is projected to increase further by the year 2002 when NEL and other rail projects are ready. In other words, there will be more places available on our buses and trains in the years ahead. 5.30 pm Specifically, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked about the progress on various MRT and LRT projects. First of all, on the NEL. Work on our North-East line has begun in earnest. The LTA has already awarded nine contracts for the 13 stations and one depot, worth a total of $2.3 billion. So almost half the total contracts have been awarded. Another two contracts for the remaining two stations will be awarded by the end of this year. Actual construction work on the North East line is scheduled to begin very soon, in November. As for the Bukit Panjang LRT, the construction is proceeding smoothly and we expect to be able to open LRT in Bukit Panjang for operation by 1999. We are also extending the MRT system to Changi Airport, and the Sengkang LRT is now in an advanced stage of planning. They are expected to be operational by the year 2001 and 2002 respectively. Implementation of the Punggol LRT will be done in phases, in tandem with the development of Punggol 21.”
“We will take into account the developments in vehicle technology that have taken place since these lifespans were legislated many years ago. The primary purpose of all this is to allow the operators to maximise the economic use of the vehicles, again, to help their bottomline, to keep operating costs low, therefore to keep fares affordable. But I would like to assure Members of this House that the LTA will continue to make sure that such vehicles are roadworthy, well-maintained and safe to use on our roads. The final principle, the last and very important one, is that we will seek to achieve revenue neutrality in this exercise. The aim of this exercise is not to increase Government revenue. As we shift from ownership to usage charges, we will offset the increase in usage cost through a reduction in vehicle tax and a package of road tax rebates so that overall, on average, we will be revenue neutral. I said overall and on average because not every user or every class of vehicle will be revenue neutral because obviously, it depends on each vehicle's usage pattern. But overall, we will try to be revenue neutral. We expect that most vehicle owners who do not use ERP roads excessively will benefit from the road tax rationalisation exercise and the five-year package of road tax rebates. The less they drive, the more they can save. The more we can move to ERP, the more we can reduce the other charges and the more additional COEs we can release so that more Singaporeans can own cars. The LTA will work out the details and unveil the new vehicle tax structure by the end of the year after discussions with various interested parties and feedback from the public. Sir, I turn now to public transport improvements.”
“So we will do an overall review of taxes for taxis and in this review I would like to assure Mr Seng Han Thong and Mr Ong Ah Heng that we will also take into account the review of the diesel tax. The outcome of the tax rationalisation exercise should be that taxis' operating cost will remain at around the current levels so that taxi drivers will not be worse off. And if as a result of this review there are any savings, we will make sure that taxi operators pass on such savings to the taxi drivers. This should reassure Mr Seng Han Thong, for example, that tax rebates that have been given will go to the taxi drivers. Scheduled buses have always been given tax concessions because they are the backbone of our public transport system. I think all Members in this House would agree with this philosophy. They are efficient people movers. So we will continue to exempt them from COEs in order to keep fares affordable. Road tax for scheduled buses will be rationalised taking into account ERP charges. Again, I expect that the net effect of all these changes will be favourable to the bus operators and this will enable them to keep fares at an affordable level, allowing them also to improve service levels. The fourth principle of our vehicle tax rationalisation exercise will be to remove as many anomalies in the tax treatment of different types of vehicles as we can. Presently, the tax structure of company cars, rental cars and tuition cars are all very complicated. We will take this opportunity to clean it up. On statutory lifespan, many Members have asked for a review of this, and I am pleased to announce that we will review the statutory lifespan of taxis as well as scheduled buses. Currently, they are set at seven years and 12 years, respectively.”
“As for motorcycles, from the transport and traffic management point of view, as I said earlier, motorcycles should be paying something like 70% road tax of cars. Again, this is based on well-known and well-proven studies that a moving motorcycle occupies something like 70% of the space of a moving car. What this means if we apply immediately is that motorcycles will be paying higher road taxes. However, because, as we all know, they are currently paying very low taxes, we will gradually phase in the increase to give motorcycle owners, especially those who own smaller bikes, sufficient time to adjust to those changes. The third principle I want to announce today is that we will continue to grant tax concessions to taxis and scheduled buses in recognition of their public transport role. Taxis today enjoy substantial tax concessions. They pay very low ARF. They pay low road tax and they pay Category 2 COEs even though many, if not all of them, are actually Category 3 vehicles. Although taxis occupy the same road space as a car, they actually generate more traffic congestion because of the high mileage that they clock. A lot of that travel, what is known as empty cruising, ie, looking around for passengers, is as high as 30%. Once a taxi is on the road, it is no different from a private car. In fact, one could say that it is a chauffeur-driven private car offering a door-to-door personalised level of service. So strictly speaking, taxis should pay at least the same taxes as cars. However, as I said, in recognition of their role as a form of public transport, we will continue to accord taxis some tax concessions. One day, when we are able to tax taxis like a private car, or almost like a private car, we can let market forces determine the supply and the fares of taxis.”
“If they want to use specialised, more popular facilities, bowling alleys, tennis courts, and so on, they get charged extra. So it is similar to that. In terms of usage of road space, we will be using what traffic engineers call the Passenger Car Unit (PCU), as a proxy to the vehicle's contribution to traffic congestion. So in that formula, the passenger car will be one PCU, regardless of engine capacity, the goods vehicle or the bus may be 1(r) or 2 PCUs, depending on the size, the motorcycle will be something like 0.7 of a PCU. So therefore the road taxes of all these various vehicles should be in direct proportion to their respective PCU ratings in order to reflect the contribution to congestion on the roads. That is one of the criteria. Over and above this PCU element, we will add a progressivity element. The progressive nature of our road tax structure has been in place since the beginning and it has been well accepted. It is like income taxes. So while we restructure our vehicle taxes, we will preserve this progressivity element in the road tax structure. On top of these, we will then take into consideration the amount of road damage caused by heavy vehicles. It is a well known and proven fact that the heavier the vehicle, the more the contribution to road damage. In fact, traffic study shows that road damage increases exponentially with the weight of the vehicle. So we will have to factor this into account. But after taking all these factors into account, factoring in the contribution to congestion due to vehicle size, road damage, progressivity, etc, I expect that after the review, overall taxes to be paid by commercial and goods vehicles will be lower than what they are paying today.”
“They will be encouraged then to consciously plan their trips and hopefully be persuaded to take other alternatives, including public transport. Currently, for a typical medium-sized car, the annual discretionary usage component makes up about 30% of the total annualised cost. It is our intention in the long run to shift this to something like 50%. So 50% of the total annualised cost is direct usage cost. This would be achieved through a reduction in the road tax and by providing road tax rebates as we expand ERP coverage and as we increase ERP charges to more fully reflect the cost of congestion. Over the next five years, we will give road tax rebates to help motorists adjust their travel patterns. I do not have the exact figures now because we are still working on it but I can say that this package of rebates will be more generous than the road tax rebates given this year for the RPS extension. That is the first principle. The second principle is to levy road tax based on a vehicle's contribution to traffic congestion and road damage. There are some who suggest that, with ERP, we can abolish road tax. I am afraid that we cannot do so. Not all roads will be covered by ERP. We are talking in the first two phases of ERP, something like 60 gantries, and these will be located at major congestion points. So not all the roads in Singapore will be priced and indeed not all need to be priced. Road tax will therefore still be necessary to reflect the general usage of vehicles on the roads, with road pricing then levied at selected spots depending on the level of congestion. If I can use an analogy, you can say that the road tax is something like the regular subscriptions that Members pay for their clubs to make use of common facilities.”
“It is quite a complicated hotchpotch of various criteria. So it is a good opportunity for us to do a total review of this and arrive at a fairer and a more equitable basis for charging road tax. So that is the first reason. But the second and probably the more important reason that Members have alluded to is the need for us to correct this imbalance. I say it is an imbalance between ownership cost and the usage cost of a car. Just to give you an example. A typical medium-sized car, if you are talking about, say, a 1600 cc car, if you calculate all the upfront annnualised ownership costs (ARF, custom duty, COE), all that is three times the usage cost. By usage cost, I am talking about road tax, road pricing charges, fuel cost, and so on. So having invested heavily in a car, having paid so much for a car, the motorist has little incentive to cut down on road usage, particularly when you are talking only about essentially the cost of petrol, which is directly visible to the motorist. Of course, wear and tear, externalities, and so on, are not visible to him. As a result of this, we did a recent comparison and we found that the Singapore motorist clocks an annual average mileage of nearly 20,000 kilometres compared to 14,000 km in France and 10,000 km in Japan. So we will have to rationalise our tax structure to shift or to correct, as I said, this imbalance. 5.15 pm We will rationalise our vehicle tax structure based on five basic principles. The first principle, as has been pointed out, is to shift more of the fixed statutory charges, like road tax, to discretionary usage cost, like road pricing charges, RPS charges, ERP charges. By making more of the costs usage based, drivers will be made more aware of the cost of motoring.”
“And in those 22 years, first with the ALS and recently with the RPS, the results speak for themselves. There is no doubt that road pricing is effective in relieving traffic congestion. Sir, I come now to the specific questions that have been asked by some Members. Dr Michael Lim asked if we are intending to impose tolls at the second link when it is opened next year. Sir, under the inter-government agreement for the construction of the second link, each government may levy tolls on vehicles using it. Malaysia has announced its intention to do so. We will do likewise. To ensure that the collection of tolls at the second link will not divert traffic to the Causeway and therefore cause it to be congested, we will also collect tolls for the Causeway. The collection of tolls at the two crossings will be tied in with our road pricing policies. My Ministry is now working out the details and we should be able to announce the toll rates as well as the mechanism for collection towards the end of this year. Mr Chay Wai Chuen has asked about our plans to adjust the current usage and ownership costs, and so has Dr Michael Lim. What we have stated in the White Paper on land transport is that we will rationalise the current vehicle tax structure, as we introduce ERP. As Members have pointed out, first of all, quite obviously, the current tax structure is a rather complicated one. It has evolved over the years, it has been added to, subtracted from, revised, adjusted. Road tax, for example, now is based on engine capacity, if you are talking about cars and motorcycles. If you are talking about goods vehicles, they are based on maximum laden weight. If you are talking about buses, they are based on capacity, number of seats, and so on.”
“As Members have pointed out just now, Dr Michael Lim, Mr Sinnakaruppan, Mr Chay Wai Chuen, after you have paid so much to buy a car, motorists have little incentive to limit usage, since the cost of usage is marginal. We have stated that in the long term, by long term I am talking about, say, 2010, which is only 12 years away, we can allow a car population ratio of 1:7, one car for seven people. And this is better than the ratio of one car for 8(r) people today, which is already comparable to many major cities in the world. To achieve this 1 in 7 target, which we believe will be the stable target by that time, we need to employ a judicious mix, a proper mix, of both ownership and usage measures, if we want to control congestion at the same time. Transport economists all over the world agree that the best way to tackle traffic congestion is to use some form of road pricing. What road pricing does is to make you aware of the true cost of using that road at that particular point in time. So, when you are aware of the cost, you make informed decisions, whether you should drive, how you should drive, when you should drive; indeed, whether you should actually switch to other forms of transport, whether you should share car pool with others. If you cannot do all those things, you choose to pay, and in return for that you get a smoother ride, you do not get caught in traffic jams. This is the philosophy behind road pricing. By spreading out the usage when road pricing is successful, roads can accommodate more vehicles without being jammed up. Singapore has had a very long experience and history of road pricing. We started road pricing in 1975 when we implemented the ALS. So we have had 22 years of experience with road pricing. This is not something new.”
“It is based on just these two factors alone - the replacement due to deregistration of vehicles 10 years ago and the 3% growth. In addition to these, if the ERP is successful in controlling traffic congestion, as we expect it to be, there will be scope for Government to release even more COEs. So if you look at the chart, you will find that the number of COEs available this year is higher than last year and the number available next year will be higher than this year. chart - Projected COE Quota for 1998/99, COE Quota for 1996/97-1997/98 (Cols. 1183 - 1184) I have announced before that potentially we could release something like 15,000 to 20,000 more COEs over the next three to five years. We have released the first lot of 5,500 additional COEs in this year's quota, in conjunction with the extension of the RPS scheme to the expressways. I expect that we will be able to release a similar number of additional COEs next year as we start to implement ERP. So I repeat. The more successful we are in using ERP to control congestion, the more COEs we can release so that more Singaporeans can own cars. I have also asked the LTA to look into other ways to try and smoothen out the COE supply as this will help to stabilise COE prices. But, ultimately, I think all of us must recognise that COE premiums can only go as high as the vehicle buyers are willing to pay. In other words, there must be a genuine buyer behind every COE bid. The recent rise in COE prices for cars is therefore a reflection of the strong demand for cars and the willingness of car buyers to pay for it. I come now to road pricing, a subject which is of great current interest at the moment. Sir, relying on the Vehicle Quota System (VQS) will not give us much scope to allow more vehicles on the road.”
“The Vehicle Quota System, in place in 1990, has allowed our vehicle population to grow at the rate of 3% per annum. Managing traffic congestion using the Vehicle Quota System has worked, and worked reasonably well. But for this to work, we have to apply this generally across all vehicles. I know that the recent rise in COE prices has caused some concern among certain quarters and this is understandable. The LTA has been monitoring the situation and finds that overall, car prices have been stable even though COE prices have gone up. While some have gone up, they have not risen to the same extent as the COE prices. The fluctuation in prices depends on many factors. The lack of information on the supply of COEs is one of them and it contributes to the anxiety of car buyers. So what has happened thus far is that LTA announces the results of the vehicle quota one year in advance. In order to provide more information, I have asked LTA to provide information on COE - the number of COEs, the total, and the breakdown into each category - instead of one year in advance, to do so two years in advance. So what this would do is to provide potential vehicle buyers with more information so that they can better plan their purchases and do not over-react to short-term changes. I have asked the House to circulate a chart (Cols. 1183-1184) which shows the number of COEs available this quota year as well as the estimated number available in the next quota year, which is from May 1998 to April 1999. If you look at this chart, you will see that we expect to release a total of close to 44,000 COEs for next quota year. And this is based on the replacement of deregistered vehicles as well as the 3% growth.”
“The widening of the ECP and PIE over the next two years, and in fact some of the additional lanes have already been completed, so that some of the traffic congestion, for example, on the PIE towards Marine Parade has now been alleviated. The Adam Road/Farrer Road Interchange - work has been going on for the last three or four years, and the completion date is in sight. By January 1998, we should have a very smooth flow of traffic in that busy interchange. The Holland Road/Farrer Road/Queensway Interchange also will be completed around that time. The Marina Bay Bridge which we will open later this week. These are some of the road building projects which LTA is currently undertaking. In terms of road management, all traffic junctions on the island have been computerised and are now linked together under the GLIDE system so that traffic flow along these roads can be further improved. The LTA's traffic studies show that the improvements as a result of this linkage have been quite dramatic and significant. New technologies, like expressway monitoring and advisory systems; new ideas like left turn on red, pedestrian countdowns - these are also being tried out. But, Sir, I must at this stage pause to say that no matter how much we increase our road space, there is a physical limit to how much we can build. Today, we have already utilised something like 12-13% of our land on roads. To give you an idea of what 12-13% of our land means, the amount of land that is used for housing is also about 12-13%. That is the magnitude of the thirst for land that roads have. So we just cannot depend on road building alone. We must continue to rely on vehicle ownership and vehicle usage restraints.”
“I am pleased to inform the House that significant progress has been made since the release of the White Paper in January last year. I must add that this document has not gathered dust on some shelf somewhere. It is very much a roadmap, a guide, a reference manual on the various policy measures that we intend to take over the next few years to achieve our objective. 5.00 pm First of all, on transport and land use planning. The LTA and URA planners are working together to ensure that the design of our transport infrastructure is well integrated with the physical developments of our city. Mr Sinnakaruppan rightly pointed out that a good example of this is in Hong Kong where transportation and city development integration is highly developed. It is one of the models that we are looking at. In Singapore, one such development that we are currently working on is the commercial development above the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station. And when that station is completed, I believe it will be a showcase of what integration of transport facilities and commercial development can achieve in terms of convenience and accessibility to people who live and work there. Next, on road building. We have continued to expand our road network to meet the growing demand for road usage. If Members were to pay attention as they drive around, they will observe the numerous road construction projects that are currently taking place throughout the island. I name just a few here: The Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim upgrading, which is going to be completed by the end of this year. The Seletar Expressway extension, which was already completed.”
“Sir, there have been many questions pertaining to the proposals in the White Paper that was put up by the LTA to realise our vision of a world class land transport system. May I take this opportunity to give the House a progress report on the White Paper since it was presented to Parliament last year. Sir, last year this House had a very extensive debate on the White Paper, at the end of which the House overwhelmingly endorsed the White Paper. In the White Paper, we spelt out our vision for a world class land transport system for Singapore and we said that we target to achieve this in the next 10 to 15 years. If I may recap, during the debate, I emphasised that we can only build a world class land transport system if we take a comprehensive, integrated, holistic approach, an approach which involves four major policies, first of which is integration of land transport with land use planning, in a way that will, at source, reduce the need for people to travel and at the same time to maximise accessibility of public transport. The second pillar was to expand the road network, not willy-nilly, but where it is sensible to do so and where it makes economic sense to do so. And after doing so, to apply the appropriate technology to maximise its use. The third pillar was to manage the population of vehicles and the demand for usage of these roads. Last but not least, and the most important of all, the last pillar is to provide quality public transport choices in order to attract more commuters to use public transport. I reiterate this because it is important for us to understand that all these measures have to be taken together and they inter-relate with one another and just doing one alone will not do the trick.”
“Bus lanes were introduced in 1974 to enhance the reliability and attractiveness of scheduled bus services. They are drawn along roads with high volume of scheduled buses to give priority to these buses, which are efficient carriers of large number of passengers. This is in line with our policy to promote greater use of mass public transport. My Ministry has received similar requests to allow private and school buses to enter the bus lanes during the restricted hours. If these buses were allowed to enter bus lanes to pick up and set down passengers during restricted hours, they would impede the flow of scheduled buses using these lanes and affect their reliability and level of service to the public bus commuters. After careful consideration, my Ministry has decided that bus lanes should continue to be restricted to scheduled bus services during the restricted hours. Private hire and school buses can stop to pick up and set down passengers at gaps demarcated with broken yellow lines along the bus lanes or along non-bus lane roads.”
“Just to add to what my Minister of State said just now. I would like to assure Mr Chng and the rest of the Members of this House that the White Paper on a World Class Land Transport System is not collecting dust. In fact, as the Minister of State has said, he will be giving further details during the debate in the Committee of Supply. But on the specific point raised by Mr Chng and Dr Vasoo and the rest, there is in fact an on-going programme to connect all MRT stations with the nearest bus stops and other commuter facilities of that nature are now in the works. I think the specific question that was raised on whether there was going to be extension to the MRT station in Mr Charles Chong's constituency has been answered. TENDER FOR FOOD COURT AT SERANGOON CENTRAL WET MARKET 5. Mr Goh Choon Kang asked the Minister for National Development why the Housing and Development Board has not been able to attract successful tender for the space for a food court at the Serangoon Central Wet Market after one year.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the publicity campaign launched in July this year is to promote greater use of public transport. Getting more people to use public transport is key to having smooth flowing roads. Over the years, our public transport has improved significantly. We need to raise awareness of this and improve the image of public transport so that more people are encouraged and persuaded to use it. The publicity campaign is a joint effort between the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and all public transport operators. Car companies spend a great deal of time, money and effort packaging their cars as a superior class of transport and as status symbols. Public transport operators must not only strive to continuously improve their service but also market the improvements made. They must offer public transport as a viable transport alternative, otherwise the public will increasingly believe that cars are the only means of convenient and comfortable travel. With higher ridership, bus operators can operate more direct bus routes, and the Government can justify the expansion of the MRT and LRT network. If the campaign succeeds in persuading more people to use public transport, we will be able to build a better public transport system for Singaporeans. The $3 million will be more than worth it. VACANT LAND BETWEEN BLOCKS 401 AND 553 AT JURONG WEST ST 42 (Building of primary school) 7. Encik Harun bin A. Ghani asked the Minister for Education when his Ministry will build a primary school at the vacant land between Blocks 401 and 553 at Jurong West St 42.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, owners of goods vehicles are allowed to transport their workers on their trucks, as this helps them to utilise their goods vehicles more productively. When they do so, they have to observe several safety rules. For example, there is a maximum number of workers that they can carry on the trucks depending on the size of the trucks; the passengers must be seated while the vehicle is in motion; and protective railings must be fitted along both sides of the vehicles. There is also a 50 kph speed limit imposed on all goods vehicles. There is no necessity at this moment to change the rules. The Land Transport Authority has reminded owners of goods vehicles of these rules, and is working with the Traffic Police to step up enforcement to ensure that the rules are observed. PRIORITY IN HDB FLAT ALLOCATIONS (Inclusion of citizens doing charity work in voluntary welfare organisations) The following Question stood in the name of Dr Kanwaljit Soin 6. To ask the Minister for National Development if he will define which grassroots leaders are given priority in Housing and Development Board flat allocations and whether the definition can be broadened to include citizens who do charity work in voluntary welfare organisations.”
“The Land Transport Authority (LTA) builds covered linkways between various public transport facilities like bus shelters, taxi-shelters, MRT stations and bus interchanges. As a rule, it does not build linkways to connect HDB blocks to such facilities. The provision of such linkways are undertaken by Town Councils. There have been only 5 cases in Queenstown, Braddell, Khatib, Jurong East and Outram Park where links from a HDB block to MRT stations were built by LTA and its predecessors because these blocks were very close to the road reserve and the stations. COVERED WALKWAYS AND SHELTERS 7. Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Minister for National Development if he will state (a) the number and the names, to date, of Town Councils (TCs)/Citizens' Consultative Committees (CCCs) which have used funds from the Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) to build covered walkways or shelters for walkways; (b) the total number of such walkways constructed and under construction; (c) the total cost of such constructions; and (d) the number of CIPC-funded walkways in the Sembawang GRC and the Nee Soon South Constituency.”
“ECONOMIC EXPANSION INCENTIVES (RELIEF FROM INCOME TAX) (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Economic Expansion Incentives (Relief from Income Tax) Act (Chapter 86 of the 1996 Revised Edition)", recommendation of President signified; presented by the Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. COUNTERVAILING AND ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES BILL Order for Second Reading read.”
“13 pm BILLS INTRODUCED CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1992 Revised Edition)", presented by the Prime Minister (Mr Goh Chok Tong); read the First time; to be read a Second time on a day to be named, and to be printed. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act (Chapter 218 of the 1995 Revised Edition) and to make related amendments to the Presidential Elections Act (Chapter 240A of the 1992 Revised Edition)", presented by Mr Goh Chok Tong; read the First time; to be read a Second time on a day to be named, and to be printed. LEGAL PROFESSION (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Legal Profession Act (Chapter 161 of the 1994 Revised Edition)", presented by the Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Law (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION (REPEAL) BILL "to repeal the Institute of Education Act (Chapter 140 of the 1985 Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for Education (Mr Lee Yock Suan); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. PEOPLE'S ASSOCIATION (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the People's Association Act (Chapter 227 of the 1994 Revised Edition)", presented by the Senior Minister of State for Community Development (Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.”
“Sir, many of the key junctions in the Upper Serangoon Road/Braddell Road/Boundary Road/Lorong Chuan area are congested during peak hours due to very high traffic volumes. Marginal improvements can be achieved by adjusting traffic light timings and junction improvements. For example, traffic signals in the area have been brought under GLIDE, a computerised traffic light system, since March last year. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is planning to expand the Upper Serangoon Road/Braddell Road/Bartley Road junction as well as the Upper Paya Lebar Road/Boundary Road/Upper Serangoon Road junction into multi-tier interchanges. Construction work on these interchanges is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 1997 and LTA is also planning to upgrade the existing CTE/Braddell Road flyover into a three-tier flyover. PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN TAMPINES AND PASIR RIS 15. Mr Charles Chong asked the Minister for Education if there are sufficient primary schools in Tampines and Pasir Ris to cater for residents in those estates. Encik Sidek bin Saniff (for the Minister for Education): Sir, currently, 11 primary schools and three primary schools are serving Tampines and Pasir Ris, respectively. A new primary school, Park View Primary School at Pasir Ris Drive 1, will be ready to admit pupils in January 1997. One new primary school each in Tampines and Pasir Ris have been proposed under the 5th Primary School Building Programme to meet projected demand for primary school places. The schools are scheduled to be completed by the end of 1999. 1.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Changkat Primary School is about 60 metres away from the junction of Simei Street 3 and Simei Street 1. There are signalised pedestrian crossing facilities at the junction which students can use to cross Simei Street 3 safely. The Land Transport Authority will be installing an additional set of traffic lights at the junction of Simei Street 3 and the access road to the new Changi Hospital. Signalised pedestrian crossing facilities will also be incorporated at this junction. In view of this, it is not necessary to build a pedestrian overhead bridge across Simei Street 3. UPPER SERANGOON ROAD/BRADDELL ROAD/LORONG CHUAN/BOUNDARY ROAD (Plans to relieve peak-hour traffic jams) 14. Mr Goh Choon Kang asked the Minister for Communications if his Ministry has any short-term plans to relieve the peak-hour traffic jams at Upper Serangoon Road/Braddell Road/Lorong Chuan/Boundary Road.”
“The Land Transport Authority has an on-going programme to build covered linkways and other commuter facilities at major transport interchanges. This is being implemented in stages. There are no plans to provide such facilities at Yishun MRT taxi station in the current programme. UPGRADE OF RENTAL BLOCKS AT HOUGANG AVENUE 3 5. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for National Development whether his Ministry has plans to upgrade the rental blocks (Blocks 3 and 4) at Hougang Avenue 3.”
“The vehicles used for drawing lines on the roads should not spill any paint on the roads while doing the job. This is as the road-marking paint, called thermoplastic paint, comes in powder form. Vehicles that draw road lines have to be fitted with heating devices to turn the powder into liquid form just before the paint is applied on the roads. Paint marks on the roads are likely to be caused by spillage from trucks carrying normal paints, not road-marking paint. LIGHTED SHELTER FOR YISHUN MRT TAXI STATION 4. Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Minister for Communications when will the Land Transport Authority construct a shelter with lights for the Yishun MRT taxi station such as that constructed for the Khatib MRT taxi station.”
“The traffic volume along Upper Serangoon Road is high because it is taking in traffic originating from major towns like Hougang, Toa Payoh and Tampines, and also from two major expressways, namely, Central and Pan-Island Expressways. There are several major arterial and ring roads which criss-cross with Upper Serangoon Road at the Boundary Road/Upper Paya Lebar Road junction, the Braddell Road/Bartley Road junction and the Woodsville interchange. This makes the congestion worse. LTA has been active in seeking solutions to ease the traffic situation at Upper Serangoon Road. In July 1995, the traffic lights along Upper Serangoon Road were computerised, and average travelling speed during the morning and evening peak hours improved by 20% and 13% respectively. The Government will be spending $85 million in the next four years to convert the Paya Lebar Road/Boundary Road and Braddell/Bartley Road junctions into three to fourtier interchanges. This would increase the carrying capacity of the junctions significantly and smoothen the traffic flow along Upper Serangoon Road. DIRTYING OF ROADS 3. Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Minister for Communications whether his Ministry is aware that road line-drawing vehicles often dirty the roads by spilling paints while drawing lines on roads and, if so, what measures are being taken to prevent the roads being dirtied by such vehicles.”
“The fault that was reported in April 1996 of this particular test kit of Abbotts was only detected after millions of tests had been carried out all over the world. According to the manufacturers, only 4 cases of false negatives out of 2.5 million tests shipped to customers worldwide were reported in certain overseas countries.. This test kit was never used in the Government and restructured hospitals and laboratories. In the private sector, only 11 clinical laboratories have used this since 1st October 1995. All laboratories have since stopped using them from 4th April 1996. The Ministry of Health has issued a press statement on this matter and has recommended that, as a precautionary measure, those who were tested in private clinics or laboratories should go back to the same clinic, laboratory or the referring doctor to check whether they require a retest. The Ministry is monitoring all the retests conducted. So far no false negative results have been found in the retests. TRAFFIC AT UPPER SERANGOON ROAD 2. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Communications whether the traffic situation at Upper Serangoon Road has improved since his last visit when he experienced the traffic jams himself.”
“Our current policy requires building developers to provide sufficient parking spaces to meet parking demand generated by the development. However, where it is technically not possible to provide sufficient parking lots, LTA will have to waive this requirement. If problems with parking arise as a result, LTA will, in consultation with URA, explore turning suitable sites in the vicinity into public carparks. The developments along Balestier Road are normally on small sites presently occupied by a few shophouses. It has been difficult for them to comply with the full parking provision requirements. Through feedback and suggestions from grassroots leaders in the Moulmein CCC, URA opened a new surface car park of 59 lots in May and 15 kerbside lots in August this year to make up for the shortfall in car parking lots. LTA surveys showed that the new car parking lots are not well-utilised yet, probably because motorists are not familiar with them. They expect the situation to improve as the new car parks become more well-known to visitors in the area. I will ask the various agencies to monitor the situation closely and take remedial action if necessary. WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FAULTY AIDS TEST KITS 1. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Health why faulty test kits for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were used by clinical laboratories and how these kits got into the market. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: The faulty test kit for AIDS referred to by the Member is the Abbott IMx HIV-1/HIV-2 3rd Generation Plus Test manufactured by Abbott of USA for the screening of HIV infection. Abbott test kits were approved for use in developed countries like UK, USA and Germany.”
“Factories in the Loyang, Changi North and Changi South industrial estates have to comply with our minimum car parking provisions, which were set to meet parking demand in general. However, in specific areas where demand is exceptionally high, LTA will work with URA to consider adding public surface car parks or kerbside parking lots. An example is the provision of public parking lots along some under-used roads in Kallang Industrial Estate and Sungei Kadut/Kranji Industrial Estates. If the Member could let me know exactly the locations where parking is a problem, I will ask LTA to look into them. CAR PARKS FOR NEW BUILDINGS ALONG BALESTIER ROAD 31. Mr R. Sinnakaruppan asked the Minister for Communications if it will be made mandatory that new buildings along Balestier Road will have their own car parks, in view of the lack of car parks in the area and the traffic congestion.”
“In March this year, in response to a similar question from Mr Teo, I informed the House that the Land transport Authority (LTA) was studying the feasibility of extending the MRT Line to Changi Airport. LTA is reviewing the viability of the project taking into account the more generous, revised financing formula as spelt out in the White Paper on Land Transport, which was endorsed by Parliament in January this year. A decision on whether and when to proceed with the MRT extension to the Airport will be made after LTA has completed its study and submitted its recommendations to Government. PUBLIC CAR PARKS IN INDUSTRIAL ESTATES 30. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Communications whether the Land Transport Authority will consider providing public car parks in Loyang Industrial Estate, Changi North and Changi South Industrial Estates.”
“SBS has surveyed Simei residents and estimated that several hundred residents travel to Changi Airport daily. This number is too few to support a direct scheduled bus service between Simei and the Airport. Another alternative of diverting an existing service has also been ruled out because a few thousand people would be adversely affected by the longer journey, and travelling times and higher fares. A third alternative is to operate a special shuttle service between Simei and the Airport during the peak hours only. I will ask SBS to consider operating such a service. If SBS is unable to do so, I will ask the Public Transport Council (PTC) and Land Transport Authority (LTA) to look into allowing private bus operators to run this special service. EXTENSION OF MRT LINE TO CHANGI AIRPORT 28. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Communications whether he will give a report on the Land Transport Authority's proposal to extend the Mass Rapid Transit or Light Rail Transport network to Changi Airport.”
“HIJACKING AND PROTECTION OF AIRCRAFT (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Hijacking and Protection of Aircraft Act (Chapter 124 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and to make a consequential amendment to the Extradition Act (Chapter 103 of the 1985 Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Wong Kan Seng); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. COUNTERVAILING AND ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES BILL "to make provisions for the investigation and determination of subsidies being provided on, and the dumping of, goods imported into Singapore, the imposition of countervailing and anti-dumping duties to offset such subsidies or dumping and for matters connected therewith, and to repeal the Customs (Dumping and Subsidies) Act (Chapter 71 of the 1985 Revised Edition)", recommendation of President signified; presented by the Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. SENTOSA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Sentosa Development Corporation Act (Chapter 291 of the 1985 Revised Edition)", presented by Mr Yeo Cheow Tong; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. FIRST SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1996 TO 31ST MARCH 1997 (Paper Cmd. 6 of 1996) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair]”
“Sir, I just want to take this opportunity to answer Mr Chng. I would like to inform Mr Chng that the exclusive rights that have been granted to ST, which will be removed by the year 2000, refer to all the services currently under exclusivity. So there will be opportunities for full competition by the year 2000 in all these areas. 1.45 pm BILLS INTRODUCED CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Criminal Procedure Code (Chapter 68 of the 1985 Revised Edition", presented by the Minister for Law (Prof. S. Jayakumar); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. SUPPLEMENTARY SUPPLY (NO. 2) BILL "to provide for making supplementary provision to meet additional expenditure for the financial year 1st April 1996 to 31st March 1997", recommendation of President signified; presented by the Minister for Finance (Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. ESTATE DUTY (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Estate Duty Act (Chapter 96 of the 1985 Revised Edition)", recommendation of President signified; presented by Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed. INCOME TAX (AMENDMENT NO. 2) BILL "to amend the Income Tax Act (Chapter 134 of the 1996 Revised Edition)", recommendation of President signified; presented by Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament; and to be printed.”