HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD (Appointment of Estates Officers as Commissioners for Oaths)

Mr Cheong Yuen Chee asked the Minister for National Development and Communications whether he will request the Housing and Development Board to recommend the appointment of estates officers in both the Sales and Lettings and Applications Sections as Commissioners for Oaths for the convenience of the applicants who, at present, have to make their declarations elsewhere.

Dr Tan Eng Liang (for the Minister for National Development and Communications): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Board sells more than 3,000 properties and lets out over a thousand properties per month. Statutory declarations are required in most cases to confirm the information supplied in the application forms and also to re-affirm further information, for example, ownership of private property, before the collection of keys. Owing to the large volume of statutory declarations involved, the post of Commissioner for Oaths must necessarily be filled by a full-time officer. The Board will request the Registrar of the Supreme Court to post a Commissioner for Oaths to the Sales and Lettings Section.