HONG SAN TEMPLE (TOL fee)

Mr Sia Kah Hui: To ask the Minister for National Development if he will justify the increase by the Housing and Development Board from $3 p.m. rent to $785 p.m. TOL, in spite of the reduction in area from 50-odd thousand square feet to around 10, thousand square feet, in the case of Hong San Temple in Defu Lane 12, an increase of more than 130,000 per cent.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Question No. 2.

Mr Ng Kah Ting (Punggol): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, Question No. 2.

Mr Teh Cheang Wan: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the question as it is framed is misleading. I will explain why.

Hong San Temple is located in what was previously known as the Perseverance Estate. The site was acquired by the Housing and Development Board in June 1973 together with, other surrounding land for industrial development. While the site was under clearance action, the Temple paid rental to HDB based on rentals charged by the previous landowners. Under normal circumstances, the Temple would have been cleared and jointly re-allocated a new site with two or more other temples similarly affected by clearance.

As it happens occasionally, the existing use on an acquired site is compatible with the surrounding areas being redeveloped by the Board. The existing user may be permitted to remain on the site subject to the issue of a new TOL and revision of the TOL fee. Hong San Temple fell into this category. The Temple Management Committee chose to remain on the site. In accordance with the prevailing practice, the TOL fee was revised. The revised TOL fee of $785 per month paid by the Temple, in fact, represents a substantial concession by the HDB. The TOL fee which other users would be charged for the same site would have been $2.90 per square metre or $2,820 a month. The Temple is therefore paying less than one-third of the ground rent which other users would have been charged.

The claim that Hong San Temple originally occupied an area of 50,000 square feet is not accurate. Before the acquisition, the site boundary of the Temple premises was not clearly demarcated. The present area of 10,000 square feet which the Temple now occupies is based on the request of the Temple Management Committee.

If the Temple Management Committee is unhappy with the terms of the TOL, the HDB is prepared to consider clearing the Temple. The Temple would then be eligible for allocation of a new site with two or more other temples similarly affected by clearance.