HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.39 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."

Under section 46 of the existing Housing and Development Ordinance, one management corporation has to be established by the owners in each and every building of Housing Board flats. In practice, it has been found that more than one building can be satisfactorily managed by one management corporation. For reasons of economy and administrative efficiency, it is desirable to amend section 46 to make it possible for more than one block of buildings to be managed by one corporation.

Opportunity is also taken to amend subsection (5) of the same section to remove any doubts as to who should be the authority to set up a management corporation. Under this amendment a management corporation will not be constituted until the Minister makes an order so constituting it.

Another amendment made is in respect of the period of appointment of members to the Board under section 6. Under this amendment, the Minister may appoint a member to hold office for any period not exceeding three years instead of a fixed period of three years and no less at present.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.41 p.m.

Mr N. Govindasamy: Mr Speaker, Sir, the people of Singapore, especially those from the low income group, welcome most heartily the policy of the Government to facilitate the purchase of Housing and Development Board flats through the utilisation of their Central Provident Fund savings. As a result, more and more people have become houseownership conscious and are able to give effect to their desire to become homeowners. Homeownership, however, has given rise to some attendant problems. The maintenance of the blocks of flats purchased by the tenants, for instance, will in due course be entrusted to various co-operative schemes operated by and for the respective homeowners.

Sir, at present the maintenance and servicing of Housing and Development Board flats are undertaken by the Board which employs large numbers of workers for such purpose. The sale of the flats under the homeownership scheme and the formation of management corporations to take charge of maintenance, servicing, etc., have resulted in the fragmentation of estates in so far as the Board employees who are responsible for the maintenance and servicing of the flats are concerned. We are all aware of the problems of the rubber estate workers similarly affected by fragmentation of estates in the neighbouring countries. I am afraid our workers in the Housing and Development Board are going to face the same problems as the result of the parcelling out of our housing estates for the purpose of maintenance and servicing.

This amendment Bill, while it still embodies the principle that the privilege of homeownership is associated with the responsibility of taking charge of the maintenance and servicing facilities through the management corporations by widening the basis for such management corporations, helps to minimise the undesirable effect of the fragmentation of maintenance services. In other words, it prevents mushrooming of management corporations in any one housing estate and, as such, I welcome it. However, I would like to ask the Minister if he can assure the House that, as a result of the formation of such management corporations, the employees in the Housing and Development Board who are at the moment maintaining and servicing the Board flats will not become redundant or, alternatively, would it be possible for the Board to continue providing maintenance and other allied services in the blocks of flats which have been sold to the public by charging the homeowners economic rates for the services so provided.

In raising this point, I have also in mind the possibility that gangsters and other anti-social elements may attempt to muscle and cash in on the situation. We are all aware of the racket of swill-collection in the housing estates until the Housing and Development Board completely took charge. Similarly, it has been reported in the press how residents and owners in private housing estates have been held to ransom by contractors who charge extortionate rates for whatever services they perform since other contractors are kept out of the respective estates through fear of the gangster.

Mr Speaker: Order. Mr Govindasamy, I think the rules of relevance are being stretched to the utmost limit. Can you please confine your remarks to the contents of the Bill?

Mr N. Govindasamy: Sir, I will try. These management corporations are mainly formed for the purpose of maintaining and servicing flats. I would like the Minister to assure us that, as a result of the formation of management corporations, no Housing Board employees will be made redundant. Also, I would like to know whether the Housing and Development Board will be in a position to provide the servicing that they are doing now.

Mr Barker: The answer to the Member for Telok Blangah is "Yes". There will be no redundancy. The Housing Board has built about 110,000 units of flats in Singapore of which about 22,000 have been sold. This is just one-fifth of the total number, and whatever happens to these flats and their management corporations, surely the Housing Board will need all its employees to look after the balance of the 80 per cent. It is rather difficult to follow the Member's arguments about fragmentation of estates in Malaya and fragmentation of flats in Singapore.

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.