JURONG TOWN CORPORATION (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

The Senior Minister of State for Finance (Mr Goh Chok Tong): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

This Bill seeks to amend the Jurong Town Corporation Act for the following purposes:-

1. To change the Corporation's financial year to bring it in line with the Government's financial year.

2. To introduce new restrictions on the purchase of JTC flats similar to those which were imposed in 1975 by the Housing and Development (Amendment) Act, 1975, on the purchase of HDB flats.

3. To exempt the Corporation from any liability for loss of, and to limit the Corporation's liability for damage to, cargo handled at the Corporation's wharves and godowns at Jurong Port.

4. To make other miscellaneous amendments to the Act.

Amendments were made to the Housing and Development Act in 1975 to impose further restrictions on the purchase of HDB flats and to confer upon the Housing and Development Board the power to compulsorily acquire flats from purchasers who have contravened the conditions of sale. The Bill seeks to confer similar powers upon the Jurong Town Corporation and to apply similar restrictions in respect of the flats sold under the Corporation's public housing scheme.

The volume of cargo handled at Jurong Port is expected to increase following the recent addition of 865 metres of deep water berths. Though the Jurong Port is managed by the Port of Singapore Authority, the port is owned by the Corporation and there is a possibility that claims may be made against the Corporation for loss of or damage to cargo handled at Jurong Port. Therefore, the Bill seeks to amend the Act to exempt the Corporation from any liability for loss of, and to limit its liability for damage to, cargo handled at the Corporation's wharves and godowns at Jurong Port. The Corporation's liability for goods which have been duly acknowledged to be in its custody will be limited to $2,000 per package unless prior declaration is made as to its nature and value. No liability will attach in the case of goods not acknowledged by the Corporation to be in its custody. The Corporation will also be exempted from liability for loss of or damage to goods arising from force majeure, wars, riots and acts of God.

The other miscellaneous amendments to the Act are for the following purposes:-

(a) to remove the existing restriction on the Corporation to delegate to its employees the power to grant loans; such an amendment is necessary in view of the growing number of loans given by the Corporation to members of the public for the purchase of flats under the Home Ownership Scheme and to employees for the purchase of houses and vehicles;

(b) to empower the Minister to appoint any person, whether on a full-time or part-time basis, as the Chairman of the Corporation and to enable any member of the Corporation to be appointed as acting Chairman in the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman; and

(c) to reduce the quorum for meetings of the Corporation from five to four.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Mr Hwang Soo Jin (Jalan Kayu): Mr Speaker, Sir, among its many different roles, the Jurong Town Corporation is also a port authority in that the administration of Jurong Port comes under the jurisdiction of JTC. One of the purposes of the Bill, as stated by the Hon. Senior Minister of State, is therefore, to exempt and to limit the liability of the Corporation for damage to and loss of cargo handled at the Corporation's wharves and godowns at Jurong Port. The relevant clause is clause 26, enacting sections 50 to 56 inclusive.

Sir, during the drafting stage of the Bill, I am just wondering whether any attempt has been made to ensure that these relevant sections are in all respects identical to the corresponding sections under the Port of Singapore Authority Act or any bye-laws of PSA. From a purely practical point of view, I am sure the Senior Minister of State will agree that to avoid confusion to users of our port it would definitely be desirable that the laws, rules and procedures of the two authorities are standardised. In fact, is there any reason why we should not have just one single unified port authority? By having only one unified port authority, we would not only avoid unnecessary confusion among port users but also achieve greater efficiency and savings in costs through economy of scale.

Would the Hon. Senior Minister of State care to give his views?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, on the first point regarding consistency with the Port of Singapore Authority, my understanding is that the amendments in the Bill are consistent with the relevant PSA legislation.

On the second point, I think it is a question of opinion. The land in Jurong Town belongs to JTC and the purpose of the Bill is to ensure that there is consistency in administration even though there are two administrative units.

Mr Hwang Soo Jin: Mr Speaker, Sir, another purpose of the Bill is to introduce further restrictions on the purchase of low-cost JTC flats so that the conditions applicable to the sale of JTC flats will be identical to those imposed by HDB. This seems to indicate that because of the different administrations, obviously certain confusion must have been caused before. So does it not support my argument that there ought to be perhaps unified control and management?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Sir, again this is a question of opinion. There could be a danger in over-centralising too many rules in one particular body. The purpose of this Bill is to make sure that there is consistency in administration between JTC and HDB. But if time proves that the suggestion of the Member for Jalan Kayu is correct, that could be the time for us to review the situation.

Dr Augustine Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, under the provisions of this Bill the Chairman of JTC can now be a part-time Chairman. Does this mean that the workload performed by the Chairman is now much reduced?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, it is not necessarily so.

Mr Hwang Soo Jin: Sir, I agree that on any matter there are always different points of view. But when it comes to managing public funds, I think it is always better to make sure that we consider all possibilities and alternatives beforehand rather than to go on a trial and error basis, as suggested by the Hon. Senior Minister of State. As in the case of the housing development programme of JTC, I think experience has already shown that perhaps through mismanagement it has now been put under the control of the Chief Executive Director of HDB.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Sir, just as we have different Ministries and departments dealing with different matters, we have statutory boards which were created for the purposes of having more discretionary powers for ease of administration on a decentralised basis. I do not think I have suggested that the administration is progressing on a trial and error basis to arrive at an optimum administration. In fact, it is to have greater flexibility in administration that we have different statutory boards looking after different geographical or physical areas. It is a question of proper coordination between the various statutory boards so as to arrive at a consistent administration. We admit that there might have been lapses in the past. But it is for us therefore to learn from the lessons of the past to arrive at a better administration.

Dr Augustine Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, why is it necessary to reduce the quorum for a meeting of the Corporation from five to four? Are the present directors of the Corporation not attending the meetings regularly?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, some directors may not necessarily be in Singapore at the relevant time. One of the provisions in the Act stipulates that there must be a meeting every month. That is a statutory requirement. To ensure that that particular provision is followed, it is necessary to reduce the quorum for a meeting of the Corporation from five to four. This is to ensure that meetings can be held monthly.

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 Goh Chok Tong].

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