ALLOTMENT OF SITES AT MALAY SETILEMENTS

Inche Mohd. Ali Bin Alwi asked the Prime Minister when will the sites at the following Malay Settlements be allotted to those applicants who are on the waiting list:— Jalan Kaki Bukit Malay Settlement, Ayer Gemuroh Malay Settlement, and Sembawang Malay Settlement.

The Prime Minister: Sir, there are three Malay Settlements that have to be dealt with. The positions in respect of the three are not quite the same.

Jalan Kaki Bukit Malay Settlement: In the first phase of the development of this Settlement, 200 allocations were made. In the second phase a further 61 plots were allocated, leaving another 21 allocations yet to be made. Investigations by the Management Committee have now been completed and the remaining 21 sites will be allocated within the next few weeks.

Ayer Gemuroh Malay Settlement: In the first phase 80 allocations were made. Plans under the second phase for a further 200 plots have been drawn up, but the investigation of site works and an estimate of costs are still in train. One of the remaining areas is prone to flooding and two feet of infilling will be necessary, whilst in another area construction of a sea-wall as well as infilling will be necessary. Any forecast on allocations must first await these detailed site investigations. Only when the cost is known can application for the necessary funds be made.

Sembawang Malay Settlement: The layout plans for 200 plots have been drawn up and approved and the manual preparation of the site is being undertaken by the Work Brigade. It is expected that earth works and ground preparation will take six months to complete. It is estimated that the cost of other works including drains, roads and materials will be round about $23,000.

It should be noted that in all Settlement areas, applications exceed the number of sites available. For example, there have been 724 applications for 200 building plots planned for the Sembawang Malay Settlement. Once this phase for 200 sites has been completed, a fourth phase for a further 200 plots will be undertaken.

Inche Mohd. Ali: (In Malay): Could the authority concerned explain whether low-cost houses will be built in the new settlements as a long-term prospect, and also whether the Government will build mosques for the inhabitants in those areas?

The Prime Minister: I do not wish to answer in detail, but I would like to take the opportunity to sketch very broadly the policy in regard to the Malay settlements.

There are two points of view. One is that more and more settlements should be created. The other is that the Housing and Development Board should, when building its houses, take into consideration the Malay sector of the population involved in a particular area and include and integrate them into a building estate.

The first school of thought has considerable argument on its side in the case of special rural areas where the Housing and Development Board projects are not so intensive, and considerable work can be done to improve housing conditions among the Malays in the kampongs. But in the suburban areas where all housing development and a considerable number of these plans have been drawn up by the Housing and Development Board, it is considered unhealthy to segregate deliberately the community by marking out certain buildings as only for occupation by Malays. The balance of opinion is that where the community is already a mixed one and when resettlement takes place, it should take place on a "mixed" basis—mixed in the sense that no special roads or particular buildings are set aside for a particular race. Therefore, the question of special mosques to accompany these houses in these housing and development plans does not arise - neither churches nor temples. In the case of the kampong settlements, there is procedure for the kampong dwellers to make application for a surau to be set up by the appropriate District Office.