PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL ESTATES (Upgrading)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

The following Question stood in the name of Mr Heng Chiang Meng -

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: To ask the Minister for National Development when the programme for the upgrading of private residential estates will be implemented and what form such a programme will take.

Mr Bernard Chen (West Coast): Question No. 1, Sir.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, the proposed scheme to improve private residential estates aims to improve the physical environment of these estates. Items being considered for improvement include landscaping, play equipment, park furniture and the widening of footpaths. This will be over and above the on-going maintenance works provided by the various Government agencies.

The Government had earlier deferred the implementation of the scheme due to the economic downturn. Since the economy has recovered, we will proceed to reactivate the scheme. The Ministry of National Development is currently in the process of working out the implementation details of the scheme. The Committee is looking into the possibility of starting one or two pilot projects in the second half of this year. This will enable the Committee to learn the best way to improve the physical environment of the private residential estates. Selection criteria will include the physical condition of the estate, and the level of community bonding and support among the residents in the estate.

Mr Leong Horn Kee (Bishan-Toa Payoh): May I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, in the selection of the private estates, can I volunteer some of the private estates in my constituency because I had actually proposed this idea some years ago and it had not been taken up? There are quite a number of estates which are quite well organised, in terms of neighbourliness, and also conducive for this purpose.

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, we will take up his suggestion.

Mr Goh Choon Kang (Marine Parade): Mr Speaker, can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether private estates also include private condominiums?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: We are looking into this suggestion. We are thinking of providing this improvement project item to the area outside the condominium. In other words, we will only put in improvement works on state land, not inside the condominium.

Mr R. Sinnakaruppan (Kreta Ayer-Tanglin): May I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, like the HDB Interim Upgrading programme where $4,000 per unit is allocated, would private residents have a similar budget? And can it go beyond the MND budget where they have got National Parks Board and other statutory boards, like ENV, drains, and so on, and where they can pool together the budget for this upgrading to reach $4,000 per unit figure?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, yes, that is indeed the idea. I said in my answer that the funding will be provided over and above the on-going maintenance works provided by the various Government agencies, like LTA, National Parks, Environment.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen (Bukit Timah): Sir, my question relates to funding as well. What is the total budget his Ministry will be allocating for these two pilot projects, or other projects related to the improvement of private estates?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, we are still trying to work out the budget with the Ministry of Finance.

Mr Sinnakaruppan: I think he has not answered my question. When he says more than the present amount, would it be near the $4,000 benchmark?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: As I said in my reply to Dr Wang, we are looking into the final details of the budget.

Mr S. Iswaran (West Coast): Given that the scope of works contemplated is relatively modest, can we envisage an early start date for the project and faster implementation because we are only talking about things like landscaping and footpath widening? I do not see this as being terribly complicated.

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: We will try to start one or two by the second half of this year. We are already in March. So the second half can be a few months away.

Mr Simon S C Tay (Nominated Member): The Senior Parliamentary Secretary has said that, for condominiums, they will probably do it on public land. May I take it that it is a principle of private estate upgrading that no private land will be taken?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Yes.

Assoc. Prof. Toh See Kiat (Aljunied): Mr Speaker, Sir, could I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary this question? He talks about one of the factors being community bonding. Will it be possible for communities that are found to be quite well bonded to be helped along with the provision of facilities like the RC centre or clubhouse?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: That depends on the number of houses or condominium units in that precinct. The funding will be based on X dollars per household within that precinct. So if there is enough money to do something big, I think we can consider. But bear in mind that private estates are not like HDB estates. The total number of household size will be small. So we do not envisage a big project to be in place.

Mr Iswaran: May I urge the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, in contemplating what projects to implement, will high priority be given to the public transportation access elements, including covered linkways? I know he mentioned that LTA will be involved. But I think that would probably redeem all significant value added to private estate residents rather than parks and footpaths.

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: I think that suggestion would be taken up.

Assoc. Prof. Toh See Kiat: Sir, I go back to my earlier question to the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. Like in my constituency, which is actually older than I am, the housing estate has got old schools that are abandoned, or about to be abandoned, and some of these facilities are too small for any other public use, except perhaps a little clubhouse for the residents. I am just thinking that perhaps the Ministry could look into funding, renovation, and the TOL that we have to pay to the Land Office.

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, can I ask the Member to write to me and give me the details of his proposal?

Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay (Chua Chu Kang): May I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what happens if the improvement work is on HDB land because many of the condominiums or private estates are adjoining the HDB estate? Therefore, the improvement work has to be done on HDB land. Under the traditional CIPC grant, if the improvement works are on HDB land, then this grant cannot be used. Could he clarify this matter?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: I think the policy is very clear. If the estate sits on HDB land, in other words, we call it the common area, then we will use CIPC funding. If it sits on private land, then we can consider using the Committee for Improvements to Private Residential Estate (CIPRE) fund.

Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay: I am pointing out this particular issue because one of the condominium developments would like to build one of the covered linkways. But the linkway is actually on HDB land. In this case, it will be under HDB's CIPC fund, and not under other community improvement funds. Actually, the linkway is only used for the private estate. Could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary clarify whether or not that can be done?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: If the linkway sits on HDB land, then CIPC fund will have to be sought. If the linkway crosses from the HDB land to the private estate land, then you will have to apply for money under the CIPRE fund, and the coordination must be done between the MC and the Town Council.

Mr Simon Tay: Mr Speaker, may I look forward to the day of maintenance. May I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether the private estate improvements will be maintained and funded from the general coffers of Government or will there be any special arrangements?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: The funding will come from the Ministry of Finance. So this is Government's money.

Mr Goh Choon Kang: Can we start with more private projects, instead of just two, because I remember we started off with four MUP projects?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: MUP is quite different. HDB has been in the public housing business for 40 years. So they know what they are doing. In this case, we are entering into a new business and we will tread very carefully. So we will start with one or two projects by the end of this year. We will learn from these two projects and we can speed up the number of projects next year, if necessary.

Mr Ang Mong Seng (Bukit Gombak): Mr Speaker, Sir, will this project apply to all the new and old housing estates?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: In theory, yes. But, in practice, we would like to apply this fund to the old estates first.

Mr Ang Mong Seng: How old is an old estate?

Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: We have to look at each estate separately because some old estates have just been upgraded by the National Parks Board and Environment. Some new estates may not have been upgraded yet. The cut-off line is quite blur, unlike HDB estates.