CONTROLLED PREMISES (SPECIAL PROVISIONS) (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 1.30 pm

The Minister for National Development (Mr S. Dhanabalan): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Bill seeks to achieve two objectives. First, it seeks to streamline the procedure before an application may be submitted to the Tenants' Compensation Board. Second, it seeks to restructure and increase the membership of the Tenants' Compensation Board to handle, more expeditiously, the increasing number of applications from owners who wish to recover their rent-controlled properties in order to develop their properties.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Tenants' Compensation Board (TCB) was set up under the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act. It is empowered to assess the amount of compensation tenants, sub-tenants and occupiers are entitled to. The decisions by the TCB are final and binding on both owners and occupiers.

At present, owners are required to do two things before they may present their case to the TCB. They must first obtain approval from the Planning Authority to develop their properties. They are then required to apply to the Permanent Secretary (National Development) for approval of their plans for development.

The present procedure is cumbersome and inconvenient because owners have to deal with two organisations to obtain approval for their plans. The new Bill will give the Minister the power to combine the two steps. Under clause 2 of the Bill, the Minister can appoint any person, not only the Permanent Secretary (National Development), to approve the plan for development under the Act. He can therefore authorise the Planning Authority to exercise the present power of the Permanent Secretary on this matter and approve the plan for development.

Since the Government announced, on 6th October 1988, its intention to phase out rent control through the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act, the Urban Redevelopment Authority has received more than 300 applications from landlords to restore their rent-controlled premises. Some of these cases may eventually be heard by the TCB, ie, if the tenants and the owners cannot settle the compensation on their own.

When more areas are brought under the Controlled Premises (Special Provisions) Act, the volume of applications to the TCB is bound to increase.

The present TCB will not be able to cope with the increased workload because the existing Act requires the Chairman and at least four other members to hear every case. As all who serve on the TCB do so on a part-time basis, it is difficult for them to meet often and quickly. The inability of the TCB to meet regularly could lead to a backlog of cases. Development will be held back and unsightly buildings and potentially unsafe buildings will continue to be occupied.

Mr Speaker, Sir, to enable more sittings to be convened to handle the anticipated increase in cases, one or more Deputy Chairmen will be appointed to preside in the Chairman's absence. The Deputy Chairmen will possess the qualifications of a District Judge to maintain the judicial nature of the sittings. The membership of the Board will be increased from 10 to 15. The quorum for each sitting will, however, be reduced from five to three. This therefore means that a number of committees can work at the same time.

Clause 3 of the Bill will enable the Minister to appoint the required number of Deputy Chairmen, to increase the number of TCB members to 15, and to reduce the quorum to three.

Clause 4 of the Bill will allow fees and charges collected under the Act to be paid to Urban Redevelopment Authority since the Urban Redevelopment Authority will be designated as the body responsible for the administration of the Act.

Clause 5 of the Bill contains consequential amendments.

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 S. Dhanabalan].

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