AREA BOUNDED BY TANJONG PAGAR ROAD, BERNAM STREET AND ENGGOR STREET (Compensation for resettlement)

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for National Development if he will explain the delay in determining the compensation payable and in allocating alternative accommodation to the owners and occupiers of properties in the area bounded by Tanjong Pagar Road, Bernam Street and Enggor Street when the owners and occupiers have all been given notice to quit their premises by the 31st January, 1983.

Mr Lee Yock Suan (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, if the Member for Anson will refer to Vol. 42, No. 2 of the Hansard, in other words, if he will do his homework, he will find that I had, at the sitting on 31st August, 1982, described for him at length the necessary legal procedures in the clearance process.

I had said that Notices to Quit are prescribed by the law to formally notify squatters that they are affected by resettlement action and have to vacate the site. After the service of the Notices, parallel action is taken by the Resettlement Department to determine the eligibility of those affected for resettlement benefits, including offer of alternative accommodation or cash compensation. I had emphasized in my reply that resettlement benefits are ex-gratia in nature and may be offered to affected residents at any point in the clearance process, not necessarily immediately after the service of the Notice to Quit. I had also assured the Member that no physical eviction action is taken until the Resettlement Department has offered alternative accommodation or cash compensation to those who are eligible.

In the area referred to by the Member for Anson, the Resettlement Department is currently in the process of determining the eligibility of affected persons. There has been no undue delay. Compensation will be paid when the interviews are over and alternative accommodation will be offered when facilities are available. No eviction action will be taken before this is completed.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am obliged to the Minister of State, but I would ask whether he would convey his answer to the Minister of State for Home Affairs. We were told just a little while ago that I should persuade them to move out. Now we understand from the Minister of State for National Development that they have not been offered alternative accommodation as yet. They have not been offered resettlement benefits. So I would ask him to lend his voice to my plea to the Minister for Home Affairs and to the Fire Service to do something to protect the lives of those citizens who are still living there until such time as the Ministry is able to get them out.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am afraid the Member for Anson may not be familiar with the situation in this particular part of his constituency. In actual fact, the development in this area, which has been acquired by the URA, consists of two phases. The first phase has already been more or less settled. The people there have been given offers of compensation, alternative accommodation, and so on. Some of them are choosy and are still there. They are, therefore, facing the hazard of fire which is unavoidable in any resettlement site. You cannot expect the Government officers to keep going to those places and telling them, "Clear the debris. You are facing a fire hazard".

What the Member is asking about concerns Phase 2, where the notices to quit were served only on 1st January this year, and I have already given him the answer. He should have checked clearly with the residents which phase they belong to.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have referred to a particular area, Tanjong Pagar Road, where there was a fire two weeks ago and a fire before that. The residents adjoining these vacant shop houses told me that the question of their compensation had not been determined. They told me there was another problem. Since the notices to quit expired on 31st January, they have been told by the insurance companies that they have no more cover because they were told to get out by 31st January and they had not moved out.

Mr Speaker: What is the Member's supplementary question for the Minister of State?

Mr Jeyaretnam: The question, again, is this. We are referring to this particular area. Would the Minister of State for National Development say what is the problem here in giving them the compensation so that they may get out and escape any further fires?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am afraid we have here a very confused Member of Parliament. I do not know whether he has spoken to the residents and whether they have given him the right information. But, as I have explained to the House, the first step is to serve the quit notice. This is the first step in the legal process. After that, and in parallel, we will make offers of compensation, and so on. So these people who have been given quit notices recently have not been offered any compensation yet because it is part of the legal process. I do not know whether the persons he is referring to are the residents I am talking about, but I am told by my colleague that these people have been given many offers of alternative accommodation. They are choosy. This is a problem that my Ministry is facing, especially with shopkeepers. They want the best location, the best facing - in order to have something that has to do with feng shui and all that. So they are there waiting.

Mr Jeyaretnam: For compensation.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: If it so happens that they are there when the neighbouring houses catch fire, that is too bad. But as regards the people in the other places he referred to, we are taking action through the normal process. As soon as we are able to offer them compensation, we will do so without delay.