KAKI BUKIT ESTATE (Summonses under State Lands Encroachments Act)

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for National Development why his Ministry had served summonses under the State Lands Encroachments Act on occupiers of properties in the Kaki Bukit estate before they were allocated alternative accommodation.

Mr Teh Cheang Wan: I must point out that when State lands or acquired lands are to be developed, the Resettlement Department has to follow prescribed legal requirements and procedures to clear the land. The Honourable Member for Kaki Bukit has previously raised this matter with my Ministry. He has been told the reasons for this legal process and he has reassured the affected residents in his constituency that the Government's intention is not to inconvenience them or to evict the eligible residents before alternative accommodation is available.

However, for the benefit of the Member for Anson, who appears ignorant of the legal requirements, I shall now describe the various steps in the clearance process.

Notices to Remove or Notices to Quit are first issued against squatters on the land. These are formal notices to the squatters that they have to vacate the site. Upon expiry of the notices, legal action has to be instituted under the State Lands Encroachments Act for the issuance of summonses. However, the squatters need not attend court in person to answer the charge of unlawful occupation of State land if they plead guilty by means of a standard written statement supplied by the Resettlement Department which provides assistance and advice to the squatters to complete this legal process unless they wish to contest the charges in court. Invariably more than 90% of the squatters follow this procedure and are therefore not inconvenienced. In the case of Kaki Bukit, 98% of the squatters accepted this procedure. The purpose of the legal proceedings is to enable the Resettlement Department to obtain Warrants of Dispossession to enforce removal of the squatters from the State lands, if it is necessary subsequently especially in cases where irresponsible persons, including politicians, incite squatters to resist clearance.

Simultaneously, parallel action is taken to offer alternative accommodation to squatters according to their eligibility and the availability of such accommodation. I must stress that alternative accommodation is an ex-gratia benefit and may be offered to squatters at any point during the legal clearance process. Accordingly, some summonses may have been served prior to the offer of alternative accommodation to the squatters. While the service of notices and summonses constitutes part of the legal clearance process, the Warrants of Dispossession made by the court against the squatters are not enforced until the Resettlement Department has offered alternative accommodation to those squatters who are eligible.

The clearance of Kaki Bukit follows the normal procedure adopted for the clearance of all other State lands. They are treated no differently from all other squatters facing clearance action elsewhere. Table - Non-Schooling Population (Cols. 199 - 200)