DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES, 1962

The Chairman: Now we are on the Development Estimates for 1962. For the convenience of hon. Members, I intend taking the totals for each head as they appear in the third column of the summary of expenditure on page 8 of Paper Cmd. 36 of 1961.

Head D8 -

Dato Abdul Hamid Bin Haji Jumat: Mr Deputy Speaker, I will not take much time. I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head D8 be reduced by $100*.

*The same amendment also stood in the names of Mr Ong Chang Sam, Dr Thio Chan Bee, Inche Ahmad Jabri bin Mohammad Akib and Mr Ong Eng Guan.

Sir, last year and the year before last when this particular item came up before the Assembly during the Estimates debate, I brought up the question of Government acquiring the Alsagoff Estate and other areas in Singapore which are congested and which would be another Bukit Ho Swee.

Sir, the Government has allocated the sum of $1.786 million for Land Acquisition for General Development. I do not know whether the Minister concerned or the Ministers in the Government have been to Geylang Serai and parts of Kampong Kembangan. If they have been there, they will realise that the area concerned is apt to deteriorate. It has actually deteriorated in some cases. If you visit the area concerned, you will find that somebody's farmhouse is in front of a latrine, and somebody's latrine is in front of somebody's farmhouse. I understand the Alsagoff Estate will be up for auction very soon. It will be wise on the part of the Government to acquire the land, cut it up and sell it to the people who are living there. Besides the Alsagoff Estate, I understand the position is the same with other areas in Lorong Tai Seng and Nee Soon. Perhaps it would be better, I think, for the Government to acquire these areas under the general development scheme. It would be cheaper for Government to buy up the land, cut it up and sell it to the people concerned than to wait for a fire to break out and then build its multi-storey flats.

Mr Ong Chang Sam: (In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Head 18 is in regard to Government's land acquisition policy and the problem of resettlement. Last week I touched upon the question of resettlement of squatters. Now I want to talk about the question of land acquisition for general development. After the Government has announced its intention to acquire certain land, it starts to acquire it. But in the past, before the Government acquired any piece of land, it did not deal with the problem properly, thus causing great dissatisfaction to the people concerned. I do not want to drag an and speak at length on this, but I want to raise a few salient points. After acquiring the land, the Government should allocate it for purposes of agriculture, or the building of houses, hospitals, schools and other public buildings. Therefore, in this regard, the Government should know that the people living there, their properties and other belongings in that area would be affected, and they would incur certain losses. So if the Government wants to ask the residents to remove to other areas, it should have a proper rate of compensation. But the present rate of compensation paid by the Government to these people is not adequate, because it is insufficient for them to remove and rehabilitate in other places. At the same time, it delays the Government's Development Plan. At the moment, the compensation rate paid to the residents who are asked to remove is the same as that prevailing in 1957. I have already mentioned this point in this House last week. We cannot base our compensation rate on the economic conditions existing in 1957 when dealing with the present problems. Therefore, the people affected cannot accept this unreasonable compensation rate. The value of a house, according to the people who live in the rural areas, costs $3 per square foot. But the Government's compensation rate is $1 per square foot. The compensation rate in regard to numerous other items cannot cover their losses. Therefore, under these circumstances, the residents who are asked to remove cannot accept the Government's present compensation rate to move out of their present houses. If the Government wants to carry out its Development Plan in time, then it should increase the compensation rate applicable at present. It should increase this rate to enable it to implement its general development plan.

The second point I want to raise is this: after the Government has acquired the land, it is not reasonable in allocating it to the former occupiers. I can give a very simple example. The Government has purchased a certain piece of land at Bulim, in Jurong, which is an agricultural area. There are more than 20 families of farmers living there. The Government has recently issued to them notices saying that their occupation of the land there is illegal. I want to stress this expression "illegal". Therefore, the farmers there will have to stop their agricultural activities and, at the same time, cannot carry out agricultural development.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, these farmers have been occupying the land legally. They have house numbers and have paid land assessment rates. How can the Government say they are illegally occupying the land? It is very wrong of the Government to say so. They have not been occupying the land illegally. They have been staying there for scores of years. Now the Government is alleging that they are illegally occupying the land. I think the Government, in dealing with such matters, should make prior investigation before it issues such notices to the residents; otherwise the people affected will be very disquieted. Mr Deputy Speaker, many residents have applied to the Land Office giving very reasonable grounds, such as helping in the work of agriculture. But the Government has neglected this. We must take into consideration this fact, i.e., before Singapore is industrialised we should not -

The Chairman: Order.

And it being 8 p.m. Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the Assembly.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has completed consideration of the Main Estimates, and has made progress on the Development Estimates, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow, 14th of December.

Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Mammen): So be it.