PUBLIC UTILITIES (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

4.10 p.m.

The Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Sir, the Public Utilities (Amendment) Bill proposes a number of amendments which, it is considered, in the light of experience gained in the administration of the Public Utilities Ordinance since it was brought into force in 1963, will make administration more effective.

The Bill makes provision for the transfer of powers vested in the Yang di-Pertuan Negara (now the President) under the Ordinance to the Minister. The amendments provided for this, under clauses 2 and 3 of the Bill, will bring the Ordinance in line with the Port of Singapore Authority Ordinance, 1963, the Housing and Development Ordinance, 1959, and the Telephone Board Ordinance (Cap. 107), wherein the appointments to the Board thereunder are made by the Minister.

With the expansion of the Public Utilities Board's functions and activities and the tremendous increase in the work which members of the Board have to undertake, it has become necessary to expand the membership of the Board. It is, therefore, proposed, under clause 2 of the Bill, to increase the member ship of the Board from nine to 12. Consequent on this increase, the quorum at meetings of the Board will also be increased from five to seven, which is in clause 4 of the Bill.

Provision is made under clause 5 of the Bill for the Public Utilities Board to collect fees for services rendered by the Government or any of its departments or any statutory body. The amendment will also empower the Board to grant or guarantee loans to its employees to enable them to purchase houses for their use or for any other purposes specifically approved by the Board as being likely to increase the efficiency of the employees.

The new subsection (1) introduced by clause 6 of the Bill gives the Board power to appoint committees from among its members. The new subsection (2) under this clause will enable the Board to delegate to its committees certain of its powers, functions and duties. At present the Board is empowered under section 22 (1) of the Ordinance to delegate such powers, functions and duties only to its employees.

The enlargement of the membership of the Board, and the power to appoint committees to which certain powers, functions and duties can be delegated will not only relieve the Board of some of its onerous duties but will also enable the Board to conduct its affairs more expeditiously.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

4.13 p.m.

Mr Low Yong Nguan (Crawford): Mr Speaker, Sir, I think it is obvious that there is a necessity for enlarging the composition of the Board. From the reports of the Board, the electricity generation has doubled from the time the Board took over, and the consumption of water and gas has increased by more than 50 per cent. However, I do not consider that by increasing the membership of the Board it will be able to cope with such expansion. The United Kingdom Central Electricity Generation Board, for example, has more full-time members than the Public Utilities Board has. If we can align the composition of the Public Utilities Board with that of the United Kingdom Central Electricity Generation Board, it is likely that the efficiency of the Board can be further improved.

Sir, I note that with the resignation of the previous Deputy Chairman of the Board, the loss of whose services we have greatly felt, there are, at present, no technical personnel sitting on the Board whose functions are mainly concerned with the installation and supply of public utilities such as power, water and gas. Can the Minister give an assurance that at least some technical personnel will be appointed on the Board so that they may be able to give competent advice? Sir, I am not doubting the ability of the present members of the Board. But I am sure that with technical men sitting on the Board, they will be of great assistance.

Sir, I have gone through the reports of the Public Utilities Board since its inception in 1963, and 1 have found that it has gone to great lengths to publicise the activities and achievements of the Board. If I am not mistaken, sometime in 1964 or 1965, the Board appointed some American consultants to look into the administration and organisation of the Board. But since 1963, and up to the latest report which we have, that is 1966, no mention has been made about this whatsoever.

Mr Speaker: Mr Low, I find it difficult to see how the line of argument you are now pursuing arises out of the Bill.

Mr Low Yong Nguan: Sir, I just want to show why an expansion of the membership of the Board is necessary

Mr Speaker: Please proceed, Mr Low

Mr Low Yong Nguan: Under the provisions of the new clause in the amendment Bill, there should be a standing committee comprising Board members to look into the question of administration or organisation, because there is an apparent drop in the efficiency of the staff of the Board. I will quote one example. Not long ago, a member of the public paid a deposit for the supply of gas. But after repeat, ed inquiries, nothing happened. It was only when I rang up that the whole matter was solved in two days and the gas supply was turned on. This shows that there is a drop in the general efficiency of the Board. I think the setting up of a standing committee to look into the organisation and daily functions of the Board is urgent. That is why I have said that there may be a necessity for more full-time members to sit on the Board.

Sir, I also feel that a standing committee should be set up to look into the de-salinisation of water with the co-operation of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Mr Speaker: Order. Mr Low, I am afraid I have to rule that you are in breach of the Standing Orders as the subjects you have raised are not relevant to the provisions of the Bill. If you have any comments on the increase in the size of the Board, or the additional powers of the Board, or the power to appoint sub-committees under clause 6, please address your remarks to those points.

Mr Low Yong Nguan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to stress the necessity for standing committees because of the increase in the Board membership. In any case, I accept your ruling. I have concluded my speech.

Mr Barker: Sir, the Bill seeks to increase the membership of the Board from nine to 12. The Member for Crawford wants to go further. I do not know whether he is right, but I would appeal to him to let this go for some time, and if we find that 12 are not sufficient, we will come back here and get more members on the Board. But a dozen is quite a big number and any Board beyond that number might become too big and unwieldy.

The Member is correct when he says that with the retirement of the previous Deputy Chairman of the Board, there are hardly any others left with engineer ing experience. But new members of the Board will be appointed soon and I assure the Member that at least one will be an engineer who will be of great assistance in the Board. Of course, I must remind the Member that there are engineers in the Public Utilities Board and, if not in the Board, at least in the Electricity Department or the Water Department or the Gas Department.

As for standing committees, there are standing committees but they have no blessing of the law behind them. Hence this Bill, one of the clauses of which empowers the Board to delegate its powers and duties to smaller subcommittees.

As for some of the other points raised by the Member, I will not reply to him since you, Mr Speaker, Sir, have ruled him out of order. But I can make one suggestion. Perhaps on some other occasion if he will file questions in Parliament on previous commissions and what the Public Utilities Board is doing about de-salinisation, I will do my best to answer him.

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 Barker].

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