DEMOLITION OF COLONIAL BUNGALOWS

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Information and the Arts whether he will stop the demolishing of the cluster of black and white colonial bungalows in the Sembawang area at Ratus/Kloof Road neighbourhood and declare those houses to be heritage buildings and earmark them for preservation.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Black-and-white bungalows are part of our nation's architectural heritage and some of the better ones should be conserved. The Urban Redevelopment Authority has a programme for the conservation of our nation's built heritage based on certain conservation criteria. URA has already gazetted 19 of the best representatives of the black-and-white bungalows for conservation under the Planning Act administered by the Ministry of National Development. URA is of the view that it is not necessary for the bungalows at Ratus/Kloof Roads to be conserved.

For a building to be gazetted for preservation as a national monument under the Preservation of Monuments Act administered by MITA, it must have outstanding national and historical importance based on criteria drawn up by the Preservation of Monuments Board. The bungalows at Ratus and Kloof Roads are not of sufficient merit to qualify for preservation as national monuments.