STATE LANDS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read, 3.25 p.m.

The Minister for Law and Science and Technology (Mr E.W. Barker): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Bill seeks to make a number of amendments to the State Lands Act (Chapter 285) which are considered necessary for more effective land administration in present-day circumstances. I shall deal only with the major amendments.

Clause 3 enacts a new section 4A to empower the Registrar of Titles to amend a certificate of title issued in the name of a deceased person by inserting the names of his personal representatives in the certificate of title, when a grant or lease under the Act, or a certificate under section 8, 8A or 8B of the Land Titles Act, has been issued to such person who, unknown to the Collector of Land Revenue, was not alive at the date of such issue. This will remove the necessity of issuing a new certificate of title in the names of the personal representatives.

Sir, in an appeal arising out of the Government's acquisition of Pulau Tekong Kechil, the Privy Council held that an assignee of a State grant who did not have constructive notice of the provisions of an original Crown grant of 1860 is not bound by a covenant contained in the grant. That decision, if allowed to stand, will prevent the Government from enforcing covenants contained in State grants or leases except in those cases where the owner has actual or constructive notice. Clause 4 therefore seeks to enact a new section 6A to make it explicit that an assignee of a State grant or lease shall be bound by such exceptions, reservations or covenants contained in the grant or lease regardless of whether he has notice (actual or constructive) of such exceptions, reservations or covenants.

Clause 7 seeks to repeal and re-enact section 11 of the Act. The new section 11 will empower the President to accept the surrender of any title to any land for any purposes whatsoever and to re-issue new titles in lieu thereof subject to any terms and conditions which the President may impose for accepting the surrender of the titles. Under the existing section 11, the President has no authority to impose a condition that he will issue a title for a shorter term for the title surrendered to him.

The other clauses provide for minor amendments, and deletion of sections which have become obsolete.

Sir, I beg to move.

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 E.W. Barker].

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