HOUSE ASSESSMENTS (Disparity)

Mr N. Govindasamy asked the Minister for Finance why is the annual value of certain dwelling houses in a housing estate assessed at double that of other houses in the same estate where the houses are each of similar construction and size and owner-occupied.

Mr Tang See Chim (for the Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, Sir, every property on the Valuation List should be valued in the same manner. From time to time, the Chief Assessor corrects the Valuation List to remove anomalies which are brought to his attention. Due to the considerable workload in the department, it has not been possible to correct all the anomalies that arose from earlier valuations by the City Council and the Rural Board.

There are instances where values shown on the Valuation List have to be corrected for individual houses in the same area, but care is taken to ensure that the property tax payable is the same.

If the Member for Telok Blangah will write to me on specific cases that he comes across, I will see to it that the anomalies are corrected.

Mr N. Govindasamy (Telok Blangah): Sir, it is not a matter of old houses being valued at City Council rates, but a matter of houses in the same estate being valued at different rates and certain houses being given concessions -

Mr Speaker: Mr Govindasamy, we have 26 questions on the Order Paper and I think you had better accept the Parliamentary Secretary's invitation to write to him than embark on a speech at this time.