LOCAL GOVERNMENT INTEGRATION (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.30 p.m.

The Acting Minister for Health (Mr Lim Kim San): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Over the last few years there has been an increase of unauthorised hawking within the numerous Housing and Development Board Estates, where they ply their trade without order or control, thereby causing health nuisances, litter and obstruction to traffic.

Uncontrolled hawking is a menace to the health, sanitation and cleanliness of our city, and in many cases is a traffic hazard. To assist in the more effective solution of the problem, laws have to be updated.

In February 1964 a new Hawkers Code was announced and registration of hawkers for the whole of Singapore was initiated. In the first phase, 11,000 pasar malam hawkers were registered followed by the registration, resiting and control of hawkers in the various constituencies beginning with Cairnhill, River Valley and Stamford in 1966.

This year a re-organisation of the Cleansing Department was started to control the environment. This involves a four-pronged attack on problems of hawking, public cleansing, mosquito control and general sanitation. With the experience gained in Geylang West, the programme has been extended to three other constituencies, in Anson, Tanjong Pagar and Telok Ayer.

The aim of the present Bill is to enable statutory bodies which have hawkers plying within the limits of their estates to exercise powers and control normally vested in the Health Authority. This will enable effective and expeditious action against those who are plying their trade without order or control in these estates.

These powers are vested in the Director of Medical Services and his officers, and the proposed amendments are to enable the Director of Medical Services to delegate powers to control hawkers and stalls to a statutory body or statutory bodies as and when it is found necessary.

Two sections only of the Ordinance are amended, i.e., section 77 which relates to stalls, and section 78 which relates to itinerant hawkers. These two sections of the Ordinance empower officers to arrest, serve notices and impound properties and articles which are put up for sale by unlicensed stall holders and hawkers.

The important amendment is given as an additional subsection (15) to section 78 which extends the definition of public officer, for the purposes of these two sections, to include "any officer of a statutory board or body". In this way any officer of a Statutory Board, such as the Housing and Development Board, can exercise control of stalls and hawkers in their premises or properties.

The other amendments made to sections 77 and 78 in each of their subsections (10) are similar to each other. The amendments will enable an officer to impound or seize property or goods of unauthorised stalls or hawkers not only in police stations or Government depots, as provided in the existing sections, but to any "such other places" as may be approved by the Director. These amendments will enable officers of the Housing and Development Board, for example, to impound such seized properties within the Board's own premises. Obviously, Mr Speaker, Sir, it would be impractical if the seized goods have to be carted to a police station or a Government depot.

The amendments proposed, therefore, relate only to hawking in the properties of Statutory Boards and do not affect the general authority of the Director or his policy-making powers in the control of hawkers.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -[Mr Lim Kim San].

Bill considered in Committee.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

3.37 p.m.

Clauses 1 to 3 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

New Clause - "Amendment of Subsection (5) of section 184. section 184 of the Local Government Integration Ordinance, 1963, is hereby amended by deleting the words "five hundred" appearing in the fifth and sixth lines thereof and substituting therefor the words "one thousand five hundred".".-[Mr Lim Kim San]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Mr Lim Kim San: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the clause be read a Second time."

Question put, and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time and added to the Bill.

The Chairman: It is intended that this new clause be inserted immediately after clause 3.

Bill reported with an amendment; read a Third time and passed.