JURONG TOWN CORPORATION BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.14 p.m.

The Minister for Finance (Dr Goh Keng Swee): Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Bill seeks to establish the Jurong Town Corporation which will take over from the Economic Development Board all the latter's responsibilities in regard to the provision of facilities for the management of industrial estates, sites and flatted factories in Singapore. The Corporation will, in addition, provide amenities for the advancement of the well-being of the people living in such estates and sites. Upon its establishment, the staff of the Industrial Facilities Division, the Civil Engineering Division and other relevant Divisions of the Economic Development Board will be transferred to the Corporation. In taking over the property of the E.D.B., the Corporation will also be responsible for its liabilities.

The Economic Development Board was formed in 1961 as the principal agency of the Government in promoting industrial growth. It was a novel and pioneering venture. We decided at that time - and events showed that the decision was a right one - that the E.D.B, should undertake a large number of functions related to its work of industrial promotion. One such function was the provision of industrial sites equipped with all the facilities needed by modern industry - roads, railways, wharves, industrial water, electricity, telephones and so on. One advantage of concentrating diverse functions in ore organisation is the convenience this offers to the potential investor. He need see only one agency to settle a large number of problems.

The rapid expansion of the Economic Development Board and the experience its staff has gained over the years make necessary a review of this policy of concentration as against the dispersion of specialist functions into specialist agencies. The Government considers that the present time is appropriate to make a change in the structure of industrial promotion agencies and the advantages of creating a separate agency to look after industrial estates outweigh the advantages of retaining the present system of concentration of functions.

The industrial estates, sites arid flatted factories to be transferred from the E.D.B, to the Jurong Town Corporation will include those in the Jurong Industrial Estate, Tanglin Halt, Redhill, Tiong Bahru, Kallang Basin, Kallang Park and Kranji.

It is expected that the finance of the Corporation will be on a sound basis, but any financial shortfall, after taking into consideration its revenue from rentals, leases, and so on, will be made up by Government by way of grants and loans. Subject to Government's approval, the Corporation may also borrow money from the market.

With adequate resources, the Corporation can provide for amenities for the well-being of the people working and living in the various industrial estates and sites to the extent which was not possible with the E.D.B.

So far as the staff are concerned, they will be employed by the Corporation on the same terms and conditions as they have enjoyed with the E.D.B., and service with the E.D.B, will be deemed to be service with the Jurong Town Corporation for the purpose of determining seniority and of any pension or provident fund scheme to be established by the Corporation.

The Corporation will consist of a Chairman, a Deputy Chairman and 15 other members all of whom will be appointed by the Finance Minister. The object of having a large number of members is to enable more participation by members of the public, especially those who are actively involved in the development of the Jurong Industrial Estate and other industrial sites.

It is necessary to establish the Jurong Town Corporation as soon as possible to enable a smooth take-over from the E.D.B. In welcoming this new institution, we should not forget the past contribution of the E.D.B, which has so ably carried out its complex tasks with much drive and imagination.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.19 p.m.

Mr Teong Eng Siong (Sembawang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I fully support this Bill which is far-sighted.

The Minister has said just now that the main purpose of this Bill is to make plans to provide better facilities for Jurong Town so that it will not only be a new and modern town, but also a place where thousands of people can work and live. Since the P.A.P, came to power and started its industrialisation plan in 1960, Jurong has become a large industrial town. I understand that it covers about 18,000 acres and the Government has done a lot by putting all this acreage to various uses. For instance, about 1,700 acres are for heavy industries and about 7,000 acres are for light industries. The Government has made plans for residential and commercial areas, community services, facilities and amenities such as public telephones, etc. From this, we know that the Government does not intend to make Jurong only an industrial town but also a place where thousands of people can make a living.

As a result of the rapid development of Jurong, various problems have arisen and have to be looked after, such as education, transport, etc, for the people living there. It would not be convenient for the Economic Development Board to do these things by itself. That is why there is need today for a Jurong Town Corporation which will take over the functions of the E.D.B, in respect of the Jurong industrial site.

Sir, our achievements in the Jurong industrial site are well known throughout the world. Good progress has been made all round. In addition to industrial development, we have also set up a Fisheries Wharf in Jurong which will facilitate the distribution of fish to our markets. The harbour is good and deep with facilities for ship-repairing and ship-building in docks. This Bill also provides for various kinds of development in Jurong Town. There is a, proposal to form a Board comprising a number of members who will plan the development of Jurong Town.

After this Bill becomes law, I am sure that Jurong will be a prosperous and efficient industrial area.

I give my support to this Bill.

3.23 p.m.

Inche Abdul Aziz Karim (Kallang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to give my whole-hearted support to the proposal by the Minister for Finance to create and establish the Jurong Town Corporation, the objectives of which are to develop an industrial estate and to provide the amenities of life to the working people and residents of the area.

The move to form the Jurong Town. Corporation is indeed a bold and imaginative move to correct the imbalance between the Jurong area and, the other parts of developed Singapore.

Mr Speaker. Sir, when we speak of Jurong Town, we do so with pride because it manifests the confidence of the world in Singapore, in particular in the industry of the working people. In this connection, I am sure there will be the right incentives like good and efficient utility services provided not only to the industries but also to the residents. Therefore, in order to make the Jurong complex more attractive to investors and workers, things in Jurong will have to improve and the co-operation of not only the employers but of the workers too is necessary.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I refer to clause 5 (1) (c) of the Bill and I hope the Minister will also appoint trade union representatives to be members of the Corporation. It will be appropriate for him to appoint representatives of the National Trades Union Congress or of the Pioneer Industries Employees' Union to this Corporation so that the wishes and desires of the workers working and living in that area can be heard.

The People's Action Party Government has given status and recognition to the labour movement, so much so that trade union representatives are found on many statutory bodies, and I hope the Government will continue to do so, more particularly at this moment as the workers are beginning to question the intentions of the Government, which I do not doubt are good.

The Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker): Hear, hear!

Inche Abdul Aziz Karim: Mr Speaker, Sir, Jurong Town should be a place of joy in which to work and live. But it is sad to say that although it is a thriving industrial estate, it is quite a desert for social life. I say this with experience because I live not far off -in fact, a stone's throw - from the Jurong complex. Every morning for about l« or 2 hours, you can see streams of cars, motor-cycles and scooters going in one direction and in the evening for about 2 hours, they go the other way. Throughout the morning and even in the night, Jurong is quite a dead town. Life is dull and gloomy, and except for the occasional Christmas or New Year parties thrown by some Father Christmas of an employer, Jurong is quite a dead town. From my experience, most of the people after work go to the city to enjoy themselves and it is very difficult sometimes to find friends at home in Jurong, because most of them live in the city.

I have said just now that Jurong should be a pleasant place in which to work, and I hope that the Corporation to be set up will endeavour to improve things in the Jurong complex and provide all the modem amenities to the workers and residents. Things in Jurong are not so good, even the daily food. This is to be wondered at, that although Jurong is a landing point for the fishing fleet, the fish one gets in Jurong is not so fresh as one gets in, say, the Kandang Kerbau Market. This is a complaint of the workers, that Jurong has not been taken care of in the past. I speak not only from experience but also as a result of the complaints made by workers working in Jurong, that Jurong is not a very pleasant place in which to work, because not only are the wages there low, but there are also no social amenities at all.

However, as the Bill intends to improve things in Jurong, I give it my whole-hearted support.

3.30 p.m.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: I thank the Member for Sembawang for his very kind words on the efforts of the Economic Development Board.

As regards the Member for Kallang, he has made a number of constructive suggestions and criticisms and I would like to comment on some of them. He has asked for an assurance that trade union representatives should be appointed to the Board of the Jurong Town Corporation. Actually it is my intention to appoint equal numbers of trade union representatives and employer representatives. In fact, we have written to the N.T.U.C. for nominations, but so far we have not received any reply. So if the hon. Member can exert some pressure on his colleagues in the N.T.U.C., I would be most grateful.

He made the observation that there is an immense amount of commuting between Jurong and the city. He said that the reason for this was that the amenities in Jurong were not as good as in the city. Actually the vast amount of commuting is not because amenities are inadequate. Amenities are inadequate because there is this amount of commuting. In other words, so long as small numbers of workers live in Jurong, you will not get the amenities coming up. For instance, there must be a certain minimum population before anybody thinks it worth while to set up, say, a cinema. This problem has been exercising our minds for some time.

We wonder why workers prefer to spend nearly one and a half hours to two hours a day riding on buses or lorries or private taxis, or whatever method of transport it is they use, to go to Jurong and come back to work. We did a social survey of this problem some years ago. We found that the vast majority of workers employed in Jurong are people getting their first jobs. They are mostly youngsters living with their parents. They find it is more economical to live off their parents than to move on to Jurong and set up their own homes. But no doubt as these young workers advance in age and mature, they will get married and then they will want to find their own homes. When this happens, we shall find more and more workers living in the flats that we have built in Jurong.

As regards complaints of fish and vegetables not being fresh, I do not know to what extent these complaints are justified. No doubt there may be some justification.

Inche Abdul Aziz Karim: I live there. I know.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: I beg your pardon. Yes, but I find it difficult to believe that it is consistently worse than in other places. It may not be the freshest you can get in Singapore simply because the demand is rather small compared with, say, the bigger markets in town where stallholders will find it worth while to bring first quality goods because people are prepared to pay good prices for them.

The Minister for Defence (Mr Lim Kim San): Chickens are cheap and eggs are fresh.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: These amenities will no doubt develop in course of time. In fact, it will be one of the principal objectives of the Corporation to improve social amenities in Jurong.

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. -[Dr Goh Keng Swee].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.