PORT OF SINGAPORE AUTHORITY (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.30 p.m.

The Minister for Communications (Mr Yong Nyuk Lin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

In April last year the Government decided that the Port of Singapore Authority should form under section 29 of the Port of Singapore Authority Ordinance, 1963, a private limited company to take over as a going concern the dockyard undertakings of the Authority. The Authority also agreed that the assets and liabilities of the dockyard would be handed over to the new company. Accordingly, the company was incorporated on 3rd August, 1968, under the name of the Singapore Dry Dock and Engineering Co. Ltd, with a registered share capital of $250 million. On 23rd August, 1968, the Company, by resolution, changed its name to Keppel Shipyard (Private) Ltd., and the new name was accordingly registered with the Registrar of Companies.

The assets and liabilities to be transferred to the Company include approximately 78 acres of land, six dry docks, the buildings, plant and machinery of the former Dockyard Department of the Port of Singapore Authority, as well as the PSA's shareholding of its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Singapore Slipway and Engineering Co. Ltd. Also included in the handover is the transfer of half a million dollars in cash on 1st September, 1968, and $8� million in Treasury Bills on 2nd September, 1968, totalling $9 million, which represent the accrued profits from 1st January, 1967. The total value of these assets and liabilities amounts to $100 million.

In return and as consideration for the handover of the assets and liabilities, the Company would issue to the Port of Singapore Authority fully paid up shares and debenture loans totalling $100 million. The Government has decided, and the Authority has agreed, that after the shares and the debenture loans have been issued by the Company to the Authority, the P.S.A. would hand over these shares and debenture loans to the Government free of charge. In order to carry out the Government's decision, certain amendments would need to be made to the Port of Singapore Authority Ordinance.

The purpose of this Bill, therefore, is to amend the Port of Singapore Authority Ordinance so as to enable the Authority to transfer without consideration all the securities of Keppel Shipyard (Private) Ltd, held by the Authority to the Government. This is achieved by new section 31B in clause 2 of the Bill.

The Bill also provides for the transfer of Dockyard personnel to the Company on terms as near as may be to those applicable to such persons immediately prior to the transfer.

The Bill also makes clear beyond doubt that the Company shall have all the powers of a company under the Companies Act, 1967, including the power to change its name or alter its articles of association.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Mr Teong Eng Siong: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, in my opinion, the Bill introduced by the Minister seeks to incorporate a company in shipbuilding, and this is a clear indication of the progress that we have made in the field of shipbuilding. We know that the shipbuilding industry in Singapore has provided a great deal of employment opportunities for thousands of our citizens, and has also earned a great deal of foreign exchange for Singapore, amounting to at least $400 million per annum. This is a pioneer industry that we should seek to encourage further. For example, Sembawang Shipyard, now properly developed, has many workers.

The continued development of shipbuilding is, in my opinion, a great step forward in the promotion of our economy. In the same way that we have developed our port facilities - we have advanced to be the fourth greatest port in the world - so we should try to go a step further in enhancing our reputation in shipbuilding in order to gain the fourth place in shipbuilding in the world. We can even advance to first place if we put in further efforts, so that we will not only have a nice port but also a fine shipbuilding industry in our Republic. We have a hard-working labour force, high productivity, fine workmanship, and also an efficient Port of Singapore Authority. All these are favourable conditions for further increased development.

Mr Speaker, Sir, as we all know, we have entered into a new era in shipbuilding with the introduction of containerisation. We have spent a great deal of money to develop our port facilities in order to meet the new requirements of containerisation so that we will be able to handle cargoes faster than ever before. We have a three-shift system in our dockyard so that cargoes can be handled all round the clock.

We know that the port of Singapore has played a great role in the development of our trade and economy. It has been the lifeline of Singapore for the last 100 years, and we will continue to enjoy the same position side by side with our development in shipbuilding. So we must do all we can to maintain this rate of progress and high efficiency.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am grateful to the Member for Sembawang for making his speech. The position is quite clear to him as, in his constituency, the business of shipbuilding and ship repair is going on there on a really big scale.

Government has decided to go quite deeply into this industry because it is very labour intensive and will greatly help to create more job opportunities for our people. I do not think I need to speak further except to say that we hope we can encourage and establish more shipbuilding yards and ship-repairing yards in Singapore and, as the Member has put it, in course of time to gain a reputation as good as the port has as the fourth largest port in the world in its present capacity to handle cargoes.

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 Yong Nyuk Lin].

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