ANSON MP'S OFFICE

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for National Development why was it necessary to break down the walls of the Workers' Party Branch Office at Anson Constituency in such a hurry, when he has not repossessed or broken down the walls of the People's Action Party Branch Offices at Anson and Potong Pasir Constituencies.

The Acting Minister for National Development (Mr E.W. Barker): The premises at Block 145 Jalan Bukit Merah #01-1112 was allocated as an MP's office at a nominal rental of $5/-per month. It was not allocated to the Workers' Party as a party branch office.

Since Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam is no longer the MP for Anson, the Housing and Development Board repossessed the premises as provided for in the license agreement. Now that it is no longer used as an MP's office, the HDB decided to demolish the walls and re-convert the premises to its original state ie void deck space for the residents' use.

The HDB did not allocate any MP's office to the previous PAP MPs for Anson and Potong Pasir constituencies.