Teh Cheang Wan
Singapore
“The Board does not propose to reinstitute the procedure for the resale of flats at the respective Area Offices in Ang Mo Kio New Town. As a pilot project, the Board has centralised the resale of Ang Mo Kio flats at Sales Section, Maxwell Road.”
“At the contract price or whatever it is, and this is due to the mistake made by the HDB, the HDB has been quite generous. If the mistake made by the HDB staff has been to sell the flat at lower than the posted price, then the owner has the benefit of this mistake.”
“The Member for Potong Pasir is asking a question which I have to check for an answer. I do not carry with me the millions of accounts of HDB flat-owners with me. So I cannot give him an immediate answer. But I can assure the Member for Potong Pasir that those people will be refunded.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, since the announcement by HDB on 4th July 1986, 49 HUDC lessees appealed to the Board to buy their flats. All were unsuccessful. As at 20th September 1986, 27 HUDC flat owners had sold their flats in the open market. Twelve of them sold their flats above their original purchase prices.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, since the implementation of the policy, HDB has resold 13 HUDC flats from among those flats HDB bought back from the HUDC owners. In addition, HDB has sold 44 new HUDC flats. The slow sale of HUDC flats is due mainly to the depressed property market.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have no figures readily available as to how many of these 49 HUDC flat-owners who requested the Board to buy back the flats have committed themselves to buying other property.”
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“The Resettlement Department has to reserve these rental flats for a few months so that when the clearance comes about they are able to move the resettlement cases into these rental flats. On the other hand, there is often the problem that although we have the rental flats available for the resettlement cases, but they know that, being resettlement cases, they are entitled to a rental flat, they go and look at the flat but they say, "It is no good. It is not suitable." They do not want it. What they want is to be able to choose a flat in the right locality, right orientation, and also the right feng shui. Quite often the flats have been rejected by the resettlement cases. We have to make an offer to a resettlement case and say, "This is the flat." We allow him two weeks to say yes or no. The Resettlement Officer will go there. Two weeks later, if there is still no news, the Resettlement Inspector follows up and asks, "What happens?" They will say, "The flat is lousy. I do not like it." This flat is offered to another resettlement case. There is a lapse of one month. If the flat is rejected by several resettlement cases, this means that the flat will remain vacant for several months. That is the reason for other people asking why the flat has been vacant for so long and not allocated to them. It is because they are not aware that the flat has, in fact, been offered to several resettlement cases and it has been rejected by them. That is the reason for the very long vacancy of that flat. The Member also raised the point about all-owing the Area Office the authority to deal with the transfer of flats and the renting of rental flats.”
“It has not been provided in this area? All right, again, I will ask HDB to look into it. On lorry parks, I think this is a very serious problem we are facing. We are trying to find a solution. The point is that lorry parks take up a lot of land because the size of a lorry is very large. Quite often we are unable to find suitable land near a housing estate for the provision of lorry parks. It has got to be some distance away, and this is unavoidable. As I mentioned yesterday, HDB and URA officers in charge of car parks have been talking to the lorry owners' association to try and find a solution, and I hope by a series of discussions the lorry owners' association will be able to come out with some solution. The Member for Ang Mo Kio has raised a few points about vacant rental flats in HDB estates. I myself face the same problem when my constituents come to me. I have got four blocks of 1-room flats and two blocks of 2-room flats in my constituency. My constituents keep coming to me and know my next door flat is vacant and it has been vacant for six months. HDB is very inefficient because when I apply for those flats, so that I can be near to my mother, or father or relative, HDB keeps saying no. They keep on saying that these flats are reserved for resettlement cases. If they are reserved for resettlement cases, why is the flat not occupied?" The fact is that quite often, when HDB has cleared a certain area, a certain number of resettlement cases wants the rental flats. The HDB Resettlement Department will find out the number of units in the area. For example, they need 50 units of rental flats but there are not many vacant rental flats available in the surrounding estate.”
“Sir, I agree with the Member for Alexandra and I will pass this message to the HDB. Sir, on the point raised by the Member for Geylang Serai about the provision of jogging tracks in Aljunied Crescent, I understand that, in fact, jogging tracks have been provided in the nearby area.”
“This is unavoidable, Even in the most well-looked after bungalows you will still find cockroaches crawling around, not just in the cooked food centres.”
“I did not explain to you? Maybe not in this House. It is all right. The Member has asked whether HDB can provide larger lifts so that sick people can be transported down in a stretcher. To provide this type of lift, it will mean something like the hospital lifts. It is not only expensive but it will take up a huge area. HDB will have to redesign the flats if we are going to provide lifts of that size. The usage is also not so high because HDB flats are not a hospital where you have to transport sick people up and down. On the question of long delays in repairs, I have received quite a lot of complaints in this House every year. HDB is trying its very best to attend to the complaints, but we must understand that HDB is managing half a million units of flats. The people who do maintenance work are usually contract workers. HDB does not employ large numbers of staff to do maintenance work on their own. If we have one bad contractor, quite often work is delayed. This is because we are not lucky enough to get good contractors every time. On the other hand, sometimes contractors complain that, at first, they get a group of good workers but subsequently these workers leave and they are unable to get another group of good workers, and that accounts for the delays. This is the reason, but I am not making an excuse or try to justify that the delay is acceptable. The delay is unacceptable, and I will press HDB to push the contractors hard on improving their services. On the question of a cockroach in the chicken rice, this is rather unfortunate. As we know, in all the markets and hawker stalls you have food droppings all over the place and this leads to the breeding of cockroaches.”
“It is not necessary. The Member for Alexandra has raised the point about aluminium windows and asked whether HDB can provide a standard design for the residents rather than getting the residents to submit their own plans. I will ask HDB to look into this and work out a scheme whereby the plan can be made available to the residents. This is a good and a sensible suggestion. The other point is the provision of aluminium flashings above the windows. These aluminium flashings are to prevent rain water from being blown into the flat during a heavy rain. They have been used successfully in other constituencies. If it is not successful in Alexandra, I will look into it. But I would like the Member for Alexandra and his constituents not to mistake these aluminium flashings for awnings, which means that during heavy rain you can open the windows and no rain water will come in. It is not meant for that. The window has still got to be closed during rain except that water will not be blown into the flat. These flashings have been successfully used in Marine Parade. I pass Marine Parade every day and I see the aluminium flashings there. On the question of lifts, I have explained to the Member for Ayer Rajah yesterday -”
“Yes, the account about the transfer of $42 million. I will write to the Member and give him the details of this account because I do not have the information offhand for him. On the point raised by the Member for Anson on MND Holdings, this has already been discussed. The Auditor-General has also made observations on this and HDB has decided to sell the HDB shares in MND to the Government. So in fact the shares have been sold. The Member is quite right in saying that the $98 million has now increased to more than $100 million. It is more than $100 million. The whole lot of money is coming back to HDB. This money will be shown in the HDB accounts.”
“That is rather regrettable, and it cannot be helped. Another thing that I would like to mention here is that if both the Opposition Members are unhappy about the arrangement, then as we have already discussed in this House quite extensively about local authorities, ie, the decentralized management of HDB estates, I would be very happy to offer to both the Members the management of the estates in Anson and Potong Pasir, so that both these Members need not complain about the HDB's Area Officers being unreasonable, HDB being so difficult, HDB being this, HDB being that, HDB is not able to respond to their requests. I am quite happy to offer the management of the estates in the two constituencies to the two hon. Members. I hope these hon. Members, with their dynamic leadership, will turn their constituencies into a model constituency for everybody to see. Since the Member for Potong Pasir has claimed repeatedly that he is able to build flats much cheaper than HDB, I think it should not be very difficult for him to manage HDB estates much better than HDB. It should not be a problem. I hope both the Members for Anson and Potong Pasir will keep this in mind. Because the decentralization of the management of HDB estates will come about anyway, and if both Members would like this to come about early in their constituencies, I will be pleased. I will go to the other points raised by the other Members, The Member for Alexandra has raised - 3.15 pm”
“As far as HDB is concerned, it has to provide an emergency service. This is an essential service: people trapped inside lifts, the light suddenly blown off, the pipes choked, toilet pipes choked. Therefore, immediate attention has to be given. All the constituencies are given the same treatment. I have repeated it in the morning and I would like to repeat it now, that all the constituencies are treated on the same basis. As far as non-emergency services are concerned, if the facilities are there, for example, there are two repairs to be attended to and the Area Office happens to have two teams of workers, then they will go to both the constituencies, whether they be constituencies with PAP MPs or they be constituencies with one PAP MP and one Opposition MP; they are the same. But if the team can attend to only one constituency, in short, one constituency will receive priority and the other constituency will receive a lower priority. If it is among the PAP constituencies, then one PAP constituency will get a higher priority and the other will get a lower priority. It cannot be helped. If it happens to be one PAP constituency and one Opposition constituency, then the PAP constituency will get the priority. And though the Opposition constituency will be attended to, it will be given a lower priority. I make no apology for it because, as a PAP Government, we must look after the PAP constituency first, because those are the people who supported us, or the majority of them supported us.”
“Those are rented out to the CCCs. The Member in talking about the HDB has shown a great dissatisfaction with the HDB. Perhaps I would put the position quite clearly, especially when in the morning the Member was getting a little bit excited and may misinterpret what I said or come to the wrong conclusion. With regard to the constituencies with Opposition MPs, the Member for Chong Boon has shown me a letter giving the impression that Opposition MPs are getting priority treatment from HDB over constituencies with PAP MPs. I put the position that it is not so.”
“Then she is not your constituent. So you will not get a reply.”
“Then you will get a reply because all the legal counsels will get a reply.”
“No. I think the Member for Anson has forgotten. I have explained in this House many times that only the Member of Parliament can take up the case of his constituents. This is quite obvious. Otherwise a person will go to all the 79 MPs or 77 PAP MPs and HDB will have to make 77 replies to the 77 MPs. This will create a lot of unnecessary work. So if the Member for Anson is acting as an MP when she is not his constituent, then of course the Member does not get a reply. But if the Member is acting as her legal counsel, that is different. He will get a reply.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, think she qualifies; I am not denying that If she produces the necessary documents she will be given alternative accommodation. The usual procedure of HDB is that anybody who applies for an HDB flat must submit his application together with the necessary documents. They then process the application and if she has complied with the HDB rules and regulations, she will be given a number which will entitle her to a flat.”
“No. Send to HDB. I will not be able to process the application. [Laughter]”
“Two children, yes, but she has a problem with the husband. As the Member for Bukit Batok has quite rightly pointed out, she requires a formality. That means where the husband and wife have been separated and divorced, then HDB will ask for the documents of a legal separation or a divorce. If she can produce that, then she will be qualified to apply for HDB housing. And HDB will give her the consideration of a housing benefit. If Madam Kumari goes to see the Member for Anson, then he can advise her that if she complies with this formality, HDB will consider her application.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on the question of the resettlement of Madam Kumari, I would like to emphasize that public housing is a benefit to the Singapore citizens. It is not an automatic right. Singapore citizens who want to apply for public housing must comply with certain rules and regulations, such as family nucleus, income limits (i do not qualify for public housing, and I make no complaints), and they must not own private residential property. I own my own house where I live, so I do not qualify for public housing. I want to emphasize this point, that public housing is not an automatic right for all the citizens. On the question of Madam Kumari, she is in fact qualified for public housing if she is able to comply with the guidelines for a family nucleus. Every application must be applied as a family unit. HDB will not allow the family to break up. For example, if the husband has teamed up with some people to apply for one flat, while his wife applies for a separate flat, this means that the family is going to get two flats. So any family who applies for a flat must be a family nucleus. Madam Kumari does not have the family nucleus. Mr Jeyaretnam: She has two children.”
“The Member knows all that. So if he is asking me about Lee Kim Tah's costs of building, I would suggest the Member brings it up in 1986 or 1987. I will disclose the full account of the prices of the flats in 1986 or 1987.”
“I think perhaps your experts must have given you not-so-straightforward information, and so you are a little bit confused. If you ask me when are the flats going to be completed in Lee Kim Tah's contract and what will be the price, I will let you know only when those flats are completed. But at present we do not know what is the price. I would suggest that the hon. Member gets a copy of the HDB's Annual Report. It will give him all the figures. I suspect that perhaps the Member has only got information on some of the contracts, and not all the contracts, because in HDB the costs include cost of earthworks, piling, building, and infrastructure costs, that means, the provision of roads, sanitation, electrical and other PUB services.”
“The contractors would come in to build the flats, that is the time the tender price should be calculated. So you add up all these prices to find the cost of the flat when it was completed in 1984. So the answer to the question the Member is asking me on the Lee Kim Tah contract is this. Since Lee Kim Tah's building of the flats will be completed in 1986, the Member is actually asking for the prices of flats to be completed in 1986. So he is jumping to the conclusion that HDB is profiteering on the flats to be sold in 1986. That is the Member's implication. If he is referring to this particular contract, the flats will only be sold in 1986. So I would suggest that in 1986, when we sell the flats, the Member can bring up the question of costs. Now, during the elections in December, the Member was disputing my costs. The Member claimed that HDB was making profit on the flats sold in 1984, 1983, 1982. I certainly do not think that the Member was saying that the HDB was going to make a profit on the flats to be sold in 1986. Am I right? If you are talking about the Lee Kim Tah contract that was awarded in 1984, then you must be talking about buildings to be completed in 1986 or 1987. And if you are disputing those figures, then when HDB offers the flats for sale in 1986 or 1987, you can submit a question: for this particular contract, how much did it cost HDB, and what is HDB's selling price. And the figures will be given to you. For this particular contract, the building has not even started. You can ring up Mr Lee Kim Tah and find out from him whether he has started building or not. If you are arguing just to find out what is the HDB's contract price in 1979, in 1980, in 1981, those figures will give you the costing of the flat that HDB sold in 1983 or in 1984.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on the question of the land, the Member for Potong Pasir has queried me: what authority do I have to give the land away? I think he has misunderstood my offer. I am not giving the land away to him. What I am saying is that the Government will provide him with the land. The Government will carry out clearance of the land but the cost of the clearance will have to be borne by him. And the Member will build four blocks of flats and, at the end of it, he will have to sell the flats back to HDB. Sir, the land always belongs to the Government. I am not giving it away to him. How can the Government give anybody any land? The Government only provides the land so that the Member can build those four blocks of flats. After he has completed the flats, the Government will buy the flats from him at the same price that Government sells to the public. So at no time is Government land given to anybody. The land always belongs to the Government. So the Member should not dream that the Government is going to give away the land to him! Another question that the Member has raised is about last year's award of the tender. I am really puzzled. The Member was saying, during the last December elections, that in public housing the HDB was making $22,000 for every unit of 3-room flat, and $40,000 for every unit of 4-room flat. Let me just give the Member the run-down of how the actual cost should be calculated. If the flat was offered for sale in 1984, the earthworks, that means filling up the site, would have been done in 1979. So the earthwork costs should be calculated in 1979. The piling would have been carried out in 1980. So the cost of piling should be calculated in 1980. Then in 1981 or 1982 HDB would call for building contracts.”
“And I think the people will be very happy to pay $2,000 as a fee to that great expert of his, or several experts. I do not know how many of them. And if you are able to save $40,000 on a 4-room flat for the public, I think the people will be very happy to pay 10% more as a fee to his expert. The HDB is not making a profit and the Member says that it is making a profit of $40,000. So I hope that the Member will accept our offer and build those flats to prove whether he is telling a lie or whether really he has greater experts who are able to build flats much cheaper than the HDB. On the point of maintenance of the estates, I think this information can be supplied to the Member for Potong Pasir. 12.30 pm”
“I have offered a piece of land to the Member so that he can build four blocks of flats. And I hope that he will build those flats because, as I see it, he is either intentionally telling a lie about the profit made by the HDB for his election purposes so as to persuade the voters or to turn the voters against the Government, or to persuade the voters to vote for him. Alternatively, as I have said, in his Party he has great experts who are able to build flats as cheaply as he has claimed. There are two arguments here. Either he is purposely telling a lie when he said the HDB is making a huge profit, when, in fact, the HDB is not making a profit; or alternatively he really has an expert who is able to build HDB flats at such a cheap price. Mr Speaker, Sir, the solution to this argument is very simple. I hope the Member for Potong Pasir will accept my offer and build those four blocks of flats. Then at the end of it, we will know very simply. If he is not able to build the flats at the cost he claims that is the cost to the HDB, then quite clearly he is telling a lie. Alternatively, if he builds those flats and he is really able to make so much profit, then I think he has greater experts than the HDB in building public housing. And I think the HDB should invite his experts to teach the HDB how to build public housing, And I would suggest to the HDB that if his experts are able to save on construction cost by $22,000 for a 3-room flat and $40,000 for a 4-room flat, his experts should be paid 10% of the sale price, perhaps $20 million a year. We will not grudge. No Singaporean will grudge if you are able to save $22,000 for a person who buys a 3-room flat. In other words, he buys it cheaper by $22,000.”
“In fact, the question has been raised by the Member for Potong Pasir day before yesterday. This is exactly the answer on the same point. He has said that the HDB or the Ministry of National Development has not responded to his calculations. I am now responding to the hon. Member for Potong Pasir's calculations. The Member for Potong Pasir said at his rally that for every unit of 3-room HDB flat, the HDB is making $22,000. The HDB sells a 3-room new generation flat in a new town at $30,400 per unit. And if the HDB, as he claims, really makes $22,000 per unit, then the construction cost and all other costs, including land, must be only $8,400. Does the Member seriously believe that he can build a 3-room flat for $8,400?”
“In the last elections, at the SDP rally at the car park between Block 438 and Block 444 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 on 15th December 1984, the Member said that the HDB made a profit of $22,000 for every unit of 3-room flat and $40,000 for every unit of 4-room flat. If the HDB, as the Member said, is really making $22,000 for every unit -”
“I am coming to that. One at a time. I do not have two mouths! I have only one mouth. So one at a time. Logically, if the Member for Potong Pasir's Party disagrees with the HDB's construction costs, he should write to the HDB and say, "Your calculations are incorrect. The cost figures are incorrect." And not the other way round, to claim that the HDB has not read his calculations of costs of HDB flats, and so on and so forth. That is incorrect. In fact, the Ministry of National Development has never received anything from his Party to say that the annual report published by HDB is incorrect. The Member has referred to his calculations on the cost of HDB flats and said that we are keeping quiet and have not responded. I do not think that statement is quite correct. In fact, on 28th of August last year during the National Day dinner at Geylang West, I said that the HDB selling prices for 3- and 4-room flats in the new town were pegged below the construction cost. The HDB is losing money. It is heavily subsidizing the sale of 3- and 4-room flats. I also said in that speech that some Opposition Parties did not understand the calculations. They either do not understand the costing of the flats or purposely ignore it and adopt the policy of Nazi Germany's (Hitler) theory that when lies are repeatedly told, people will accept them as truth.”
“I am coming to it. The Member has said that the SDP has given information on the construction costs of the HDB flats and that Government has never rebutted his calculations. I would like to provide this information to the Member for Potong Pasir: that the HDB was established in February 1960, and it has been in existence for 25 years. Every year, the HDB publishes an annual report. In the HDB's annual report, the construction costs of the flats are published. The annual report is not secret. Anybody can buy a copy of this report.”
“Yes, I understand the word "basis". I have explained, but you do not understand the explanation. Mr Speaker, Sir, day before yesterday, the Member for Potong Pasir mentioned that his Party has published the cost of HDB flats and that the Government has never rebuffed what he said, and so on and so forth, I would like to inform the Member that the HDB was established in February 1960. Mr Chiam See Tong: A point of order, Mr Speaker, Sir. The Minister has still not come to my second question. Will the HDB be willing to supply the costs and particulars of maintenance of the 30 flats at Lorong 8 Potong Pasir and the 45 blocks of flats at Potong Pasir New Town.”
“And also for PAP constituencies, some constituencies are served last. As I have explained, if one Area Office is looking after two or three constituencies, then among these constituencies, one constituency will be served first, one constituency served second and one constituency served last.”
“- that we should give priority to the constituencies of PAP MPs, and give lesser priority to constituencies of the Opposition MPs. That is the basis. They are given the service, They are not denied the service. They are given exactly the same service as any other PAP constituency. 12.15 pm”
“It is. The basis is that the HDB provides equal service to all the constituencies. I am not suggesting that they are not provided. For example, anybody who is trapped inside a lift will be rescued within 20 minutes, in whichever estate. He will be rescued within 10-20 minutes. HDB is providing this emergency or essential service. But coming to the normal maintenance service, as I explained earlier, and I have to repeat again so that the Members will understand, as regards normal maintenance service, even among the PAP constituencies, some constituencies will be served first and some constituencies will be served second. So, on this basis I think it is fair from our Party's point of view -”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the basis for serving the constituencies with the Opposition MPs last is a very practical political decision.”
“I will ask HDB to look into this problem and, if the water tank is at fault, we must do something to the water tank, and if the distribution pipe is at fault, we must change the distribution pipe. On the question of maintenance of estates and poor service provided by the contractors, a Member has made a useful suggestion that if HDB informs the RCs as to when the cleaning of the estate is to be carried out, then the RCs can keep an eye on this maintenance contractor. This is a good suggestion, and I will pass it on to HDB and ask them to implement this as a policy directive.”
“On the question of lorry parks, the Member has suggested that there is a lot of vacant land in Boon Lay which is suitable for construction of lorry parks. I will ask the HDB to look into it because the land may belong to JTC. But anyway, HDB will look into it. The point raised by the Member for Pasir Panjang about Ayer Rajah Estate market having rather poor business, I will ask the HDB again to look into it to see why the market has poor business. We have a lot of problems of poor business in the market. I think the reason is that if the residents have the choice of going to another market nearby, then the market which sells fewer goods and provides fewer services usually suffers, because the stronger market pulls the customers away from the weaker market. So the hawkers in the smaller market will have rather poor business, and there are a lot of such complaints. These problems are not peculiar to Ayer Rajah Estate only. This is a problem which is quite common in several Housing Board estates. But I will ask HDB to see whether there is any solution, whether we should convert some market stalls to cooked-food stalls or whether there are other ways to improve the viability of the market. On the extension and development of Ayer Rajah Estate, HDB has plans to extend Ayer Rajah Estate if Mindef is prepared to give up the land to HDB. At present, the surrounding land is under Mindef, and unless Mindef gives up the land, HDB would not be able to extend Ayer Rajah Estate. On the point raised by the Member for Chong Boon about rusty water, I fully agree with him that rusty water is unacceptable. HDB and other authorities must find a solution to the problem of dirty water. Nobody likes to drink or cook with rusty water.”
“Anyway, on the request of the Member for Changkat, I will ask HDB again to look into the possibility of whether certain parts of the town centre can be developed first, so that a polyclinic can be included in the priority projects within the town centre itself. On the problem of lifts mentioned by the Member for Boon Lay, I have already given the answer to the Member for Telok Blangah. It is the same answer. I do not wish to repeat it here. On lift breakdown on Election day. HDB provides a minimum of two lifts in each block of flats. And if the residents are more civic-conscious, then when one lift breaks down, someone has to inform the Area Office so that maintenance and repairs to the lift can be quickly carried out. But the whole problem is that when one lift breaks down, most of the residents say, "Don't worry, we still have another lift to use." So nobody is informed, although there is a big notice board above the lift lobby saying that if the lift breaks down, please ring this telephone number xxx, so that the maintenance crew can come to repair the lift. But the residents just keep quiet. Nobody bothers to inform the HDB or the maintenance office. And then the second lift also breaks down because of heavy usage as it is the only lift in use and everybody is using that lift. When both lifts break down, then everybody jumps on HDB. They say, "Aah, this is most ridiculous", and so on and so forth. I think if the residents are more civic conscious, then when one lift breaks down, HDB would be immediately informed. Then the question of both lifts breaking down together - I am not suggesting that it is impossible but the chances are rather slim for both lifts to break down together.”
“As a result of our prosperity, there is a tremendous increase in car population. Quite often, when an estate is completed, there are ample carparks provided. When the income of residents improve, perhaps the first thing they buy is furniture and other household items like TV, and the next thing they buy is a motor car. Unfortunately, while the income of residents can improve very rapidly, additional car parks cannot be built as rapidly in the old estates because construction of car parks means encroaching into the open spaces, which is undesirable because we must have a certain minimum amount of open space. So the construction of multi-storey car parks is, I think, one of the solutions to the parking problem. I do not have the information with me to be able to confirm straightaway whether multi-storey car parks will be built in Telok Blangah, but I understand that HDB is planning to build a considerable number of multi-storey car parks in various estates. The Member for Changkat has requested the provision of polyclinics at once, instead of waiting for the development of the town centre. In the develop- ment of a new town, we are always faced with these problems. If we build a polyclinic now at a place not in the town centre, then later on when we develop the town centre, which includes the building of another polyclinic, the earlier polyclinic will go to waste. In fact, there are quite a few polyclinics which have to be converted into kindergartens or for some other purpose. This is very wasteful because polyclinics cost quite a large sum of money to build, and moreover the Ministry of Health is not very keen to have too many polyclinics within a new town. They prefer to have one polyclinic within a new town.”
“However, I will talk to the Head of the Resettlement Department again to see whether we can find a more expeditious way of paying the farmers. 12.00 pm On the question of lack of amenities in Teck Whye Estate, I would like to assure the Member that when the estate is fully developed, there will be an additional 1,000 units of flats in the estate. HDB will provide a dry market and other amenities. For the time being, I think HDB has converted void decks in one or two blocks to provide shopping facilities for the residents. On the point raised by the Member for Telok Blangah about excessive breakdown of lifts in Telok Blangah Estate, I will ask HDB to investigate. I think there is a standard policy adopted by HDB. If breakdown of the lift exceeds a certain frequency, or repairs to the lift exceeds a certain frequency, then HDB will consider changing the lift, rather than repair the lift. However, I will ask HDB to look into it and, if necessary, the lifts will be changed. On the transfer of more power to the Area Office, in fact, Head Office has tried its best to transfer as much power to the Area Offices as possible, because at present HDB Head Office is very short-handed as a result of the enormous expansion of the building programme as well as the increased number of flats to be allocated. I think most Members are aware that the allocation of HDB flats has to be carried out even on Sundays, or in the evenings. So HDB Head Office does not welcome the idea of too many people going to the Head Office to make enquiries. I think the HDB is trying to decentralize to the Area Offices as much of its powers as possible and as much of its functions as practicable. On the question of insufficient carparks in Telok Blangah, this is a general problem in Singapore.”
“Yes, I am sorry. On the point raised by the Member for Chua Chu Kang about single person families, they will receive special consideration if they are resettlement cases. A single person who has no other member in the family, ie, he or she is just by himself or herself and does not have any children, will be given special consideration for accommodation. This would also apply to the single farmers. On the question of clearance of the Murai area, as I explained yesterday, those who are interested in running the farms for a short period of three years can apply to the Primary Production Department. PPD will be prepared to lease the farmland to people who wish to run the farms. As for the details on why the Murai area has been cleared and not developed, I do not have the information with me so I am unable to give the Member an answer. However, if the Member can write to me on this Murai case, I will give him a written reply. On the request by the Member for Chua Chu Kang that farmers should be given as much notice as possible, I agree with him. Wherever possible, clearance cases should be given as much notice as possible to enable them to plan their resettlement properly. On the question that compensation should be paid quickly, I fully agree with the Member that compensation should be paid quickly. However, there are practical limitations to this problem. Sometimes the farmer disputes the measurements with the Resettlement Department. Sometimes the farmer disputes the rates with the Resettlement Department. At other times where the farm area is very large, it needs a considerable amount of time to survey or to measure the farm. Therefore this causes a delay in the calculation of payment for compensation.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the answer is yes. If any MP would like to look after his estate and collects the maintenance charges, the HDB will be happy to let him do so. Let him look after the whole constituency. In fact, we are looking into the decentralization of the management of HDB estates. This is an open invitation. Any MP who would like to look after his estate, HDB would say yes, Let them manage and look after their constituency. Mr Teh Cheang Wan resumed his seat”
“It is not discrimination. It is logical that the HDB looks after those constituencies with PAP MPs first and then place the constituencies with Opposition MPs without any priority over the PAP MPs and not, as claimed by the Member in his circular letter. I just want to clarify the position that the constituencies that elected Opposition MPs are not going to get priority. It is the constituency which elected PAP MP that is getting priority.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the Member for Anson is threatening me at present. I have explained quite clearly that where there is maintenance work to be carried out, even within the constituency itself, some blocks of flats will be attended to first while others will be attended to later.”
“However, for other maintenance, for example, repairing of doors and windows and so on, then the maintenance crew will go to the PAP constituencies first to do the maintenance and then go to the Anson constituency later. That is no different from, say, in the Toa Payoh constituency. In Toa Payoh New Town, for example, if the Area Office is looking after the Toa Payoh constituency and also the Khe Bong constituency, then which constituency the maintenance crew will attend to first, we leave it to the Area Office to decide. So one of the constituencies will be attended to later. So Anson is placed in the same position as that constituency to be attended to later.”
“Not threatening. It is a statement of fact. HDB has 35 Area Offices at present to look after about 76 or 77 constituencies. Each Area Office is looking after two or three constituencies. Even among the PAP constituencies, let us say there are lifts to be repaired, the crew will have to give priority in repairing the lifts in some constituencies firs;t, and other constituencies later. So even among the PAP constituencies, there will be constituencies to be attended to first and the other constituencies to be attended to later. As far as priority is concerned, ie, which constituency is to be attended to first, we leave it to the Area Office because the Area Office will decide what is the most efficient way of doing things. But as far as Anson constituency is concerned, the instruction is quite clear. If there are two constituencies which require repair work, they will attend to the constituency with a PAP MP first, and then attend to Anson constituency second. It is not that we are not attending to. the repairs. You are getting the same maintenance as any other PAP constituencies. The difference is that Anson will be served last, but last does not mean that it will not be served. You are paying service and conservancy charges for the maintenance work. For example, if people have been trapped inside the lift. In each Area Office, HDB has lift emergency units which usually attend to people who are trapped inside the lifts and they usually .have them freed within 20 minutes. In Anson constituency, if there are people trapped inside the lift, they will also be freed within 20 minutes because this is the HDB's usual standard of maintenance.”
“Sir, perhaps the Member for Anson is not very clear on the point about maintenance work. I would like to explain quite clearly how maintenance work is being done.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to clarify the point raised by the Member for Chong Boon. As far as the HDB is concerned, constituencies which elected PAP Members will receive priority on maintenance works over constituencies which elected Opposition Members. This is the HDB policy and also the Government policy. For example, if a lift has to be repaired, then Anson constituency will be the last to be attended to, ie, after the PAP constituency's lift has been repaired. I want to make the point very clearly that Anson constituency will not receive priority. Anson constituency will be served last.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this matter involves two points. One is of single persons who marry after the cut-off date. At present, under the HDB rules, this group of people are only entitled to rent and not allowed to buy HDB flats. But in view of the Government policy of encouraging home ownership,l will ask the HDB to relax the rule and to allow this group of people to buy HDB flats if they wish to. The second point is on resettlement cases. Sometimes they have very large families, father and mother with a large number of children. Most of them were born before the Government implemented its policy on family planning. I think they deserve special consideration. So for these type of cases, I would suggest that the Members of Parliament can take the case up on behalf of their constituents and write to my Senior Parliamentary Secretary. He is a very nice and kind hearted man and I am sure he will consider the case very sympathetically.”
“The Member for Ayer Rajah has raised the point about storage space in the hawker centres saying that hawkers selling drinks are unable to find storage space. I would suggest to him that if the hawkers have this problem, they can approach the Area Office which will help them locate a place for storage. The Member for Ayer Rajah has also raised the point about elderly couples who have difficulty in maintaining their private homes, and they would like to sell their private property and apply for HDB flats. On this problem, the HDB's rule is that anybody who sells his private property must wait for 30 months before he is allowed to apply for HDB flats. However, the HDB is very flexible and very compassionate. I would say for any deserving case, the Member of Parliament can write to the HDB and the Allocation Committee, headed by my Senior Parliamentary Secretary, will look into the case and consider it very compassionately. The Member for Kuo Chuan has asked about decentralizing the information system. I fully agree with him that the best way is to allow an Area Office to have as many facilities as possible so that the Area Office can provide the necessary information. However, there is a limitation, eg, the central register is maintained in the head office where the allocation of flats is based on a first-come-first-served basis. And it would not be possible for every Area Office to maintain the full set of information on this first-come-first-served scheme. It has to be handled in the head office. But wherever possible, the HDB will allow the Area Office to obtain the information in order to handle the inquiry from the residents. Mr Speaker, Sir, I think I have covered most of the points raised by Members yesterday.”
“For these cases, they would qualify for purchase of two units of HDB flats because the grandfather and grandmother are qualified to apply separately since they form a proper family nucleus. Therefore, the grand children can stay with them. So this three-generation family is qualified to apply for two units of HDB flats. The Member for Toa Payoh has raised the point about a divorced family and said that the HDB insisted that the husband should sell the flat to the wife. I suggest to the Member to provide the information to the HDB. If the husband is prepared to give the flat to the wife, it is a gift and therefore no money will be involved. Another point raised by the Member for Toa Payoh is about the rules on change of trade. The Area Office knows very well about the rules of change of trade. Again, I would ask the Member for Toa Payoh to provide the Area Office with the details. If the Area Office is unable to give the Member a satisfactory answer, then I would suggest that he can write to headquarters or even write to my Senior Parliamentary Secretary and I can assure him that he will get a very satisfactory reply. On the point raised by the Member for Fengshan about asking HDB to extend the one-year guarantee period or one-year maintenance period for home owners, the HDB cannot grant the request because, for all home ownership flats, the maintenance period is one year. And during this period, any defect will be rectified. However, I can assure the Member for Fengshan that if the defect is a structural defect, or if the defect is a serious defect where the contractor is at fault, then the HDB will grant special consideration and provide the necessary rectification, even after one year. But as far as I am aware, in fact, no HDB flat has a structural defect.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to answer some of the questions raised in yesterday's sitting. There were two points raised by the Member for Nee Soon which I have not yet answered. One point is about Seletar New Town, HDB has proposed to build a small new town called Seletar New Town, near the Nee Soon New Town, However, this proposal has now been shelved and, therefore, there will be no development of Seletar New Town in the next 10 or 20 years. Another point the Member for Nee Soon has asked is whether HDB will reduce the 20% downpayment for some resettlement cases who are not eligible for the concession to purchase HDB flats. On the question of reducing the 20% downpayment, I think, during the debate on the Presidential Speech, a lot of Members also raised the point about helping the lower income group, the 10-15%, to purchase flats so as to achieve our Government's objective of 100% home-ownership by 1999. Once this policy is formulated, I think this group of resettlement cases will also benefit. The Member for Whampoa, Mr Speaker, Sir, has asked why URA has not sold a piece of land at the junction of Clementi Road. As I have explained earlier to the House, URA will only sell land when there is a demand for such land. So on that particular question, the prices offered for the Clementi land have been extremely low, and URA considers that there is no demand for land in that area, and therefore no sale has taken place. The Member for Bukit Merah has asked about the possibility of splitting the family to allow the family to purchase two units of HDB flats, and he has quoted the example of a three-generation family - grandfather, father and children.”
“Sir, having said that, I can assure the House that if the objective of the increased earnings for taxi-drivers is not met, my Ministry is prepared to review the matter. It is always Government's practice to closely monitor a situation after a change has been made. We shall monitor the travel pattern in taxis over the coming months. However, I am confident that the objectives will be met. The second part of the question concerns increasing taxi fleet size. Sir, with the new fares, more taxi-drivers are expected to take advantage of the higher fares and to rent out their taxis for the second shift. Therefore, we do not see a need to add any more taxis for some time to come. MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1985 TO 31ST MARCH, 1986 Order read for resumed consideration in Committee of Supply [2nd Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] 11.12 am Head T (cont.) -”