OPENING OF VEHICLE QUOTA TENDERS (Viewing by public)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr Eugene Yap Giau Cheng asked the Minister for Communications if his Ministry will allow the public to view the opening of tenders for Certificate of Entitlement.

The Minister of State for Communications (Mr Mah Bow Tan) (for the Minister for Communications): Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry welcomes the public to view the opening of the vehicle quota tenders.

Since the vehicle quota system was implemented in May last year, the opening of the tenders at the Registry of Vehicles (ROV) has been witnessed by representatives of the media, and officials from the Auditor-General's Office and also my Ministry.

The entire procedure for conducting the vehicle quota tenders has been audited and approved by the Auditor-General.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen (Bukit Timah): Mr Speaker, Sir, would the Minister consider reducing the time period between the opening of the tenders and the announcement of the result? Or to go even one step further, would the Minister consider announcing the results first, subject to confirmation?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, the time period at the moment is about 10-12 days. Part of the reason is that there is a large number of tenders to process. The banks will also have to process the drafts to make sure that they do not bounce and that the amounts are correct. All in all, it takes about 10-12 days.

We will ask the ROV to consider reducing the time period but in so far as releasing the preliminary results of the tenders is concerned, the Member will appreciate that doing so would mean that the preliminary results and the final results would vary. How much the variance will be, we are not sure. It depends on what sort of checking procedures have been instituted. But I will ask the ROV to consider releasing the preliminary results if there are no other repercussions involved.