ROAD TRAFFIC (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

The Minister of State for Communications (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,"That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Sir, this Bill seeks to amend the Road Traffic Act to enable the Weekend Car Scheme to be implemented.

At this stage, Sir, I would like to reiterate that the main objective of our land transport policy remains to keep our roads congestion-free so that people and goods can move about freely and at minimum cost. At the same time, however, we recognise that Singaporeans have a strong desire to own cars. The Weekend Car Scheme seeks to accommodate this desire without compromising on our land transport policy.

The Scheme provides for a lower tax rate for private cars which will be allowed free use of our roads during weekends and off-peak hours. More people can afford to own cars without causing congestion on the roads.

Since the announcement of the Scheme in February last year, my Ministry has received many suggestions from the public ranging from policy issues to implementation issues. Many ideas for the Scheme also came from the Automobile Association, from the press, including Lianhe Zaobao, and the Feedback Unit. We found the feedback very useful, and we have in fact incorporated many of the suggestions. The formulation of the Weekend Car Scheme has been very much a collective effort of the public and the Government.

Details of the proposed Weekend Car Scheme have already been released. Let me just highlight the principal features of the Scheme as spelt out in the Bill.

Under the Weekend Car Scheme, a new weekend car will enjoy a full rebate of the net ARF (Additional Registration Fee), a full rebate of the import duty and a full rebate of the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) premium, subject to a total maximum rebate of $15,000. Clauses 2 and 3 of this Bill is to enable the rebate on COE and ARF respectively to be given. The Minister for Finance will be moving an amendment to the Customs Act to allow for the rebate on import duty. The Scheme will allow for convertibility between weekend and normal cars. An owner of a weekend car who wants to convert it to a normal car will be required to pay back the rebate he enjoyed earlier. He will also need to obtain a new normal car COE. This is to ensure that the normal car population does not increase as a result of the conversion and thereby add to congestion. He will then be refunded the remaining balance of the weekend car COE premium. Clause 2 of this Bill also provides for such a refund to be made.

Normal cars, in other words, those who have normal car COEs, can convert to weekend cars without having to bid for a weekend car COE. They will be given a 95% rebate on their annual road tax. They can reconvert back to normal car status if they so desire by paying the full annual road tax. The conversion of existing normal cars to weekend cars will be provided under the rules to be made by the Minister for the implementation of this Weekend Car Scheme. The provision to enable such rules to be made is specified in clause 4 of this Bill.

Clause 4 also spells out the restrictions to be imposed on weekend cars and the penalties to be imposed for any breach of these restrictions. Heavy fines will be imposed should a motorist be caught driving a weekend car without a valid daily licence during the restricted hours, or using a false number plate to pass off as a normal car. This is necessary because enforcement of the scheme will be on a random basis.

To facilitate enforcement, the licence plate of a weekend car will be of a different colour from that of a normal car. The licence plate will also have to be sealed to prevent tampering. The requirement for sealing of licence plates is provided for in clause 7 of the Bill.

Sir, if I may summarise, the Weekend Car Scheme will make a car cheaper to buy and also cheaper to run, if it is used under certain conditions. More Singaporeans who want to can own a car. If they do not contribute to congestion, they pay less. This is fair. If some car buyers find these conditions to be too restrictive or too onerous, they can opt for a normal car, which is more expensive to buy, more expensive to run, but also with no restrictions. They now have a choice.

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 Mah Bow Tan].

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