HOCK KEE HOUSE (Acquisition)

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HOCK KEE HOUSE:

(Acquisition): 4.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Transport why was the decision to acquire Hock Kee House and to evacuate the residents and shopkeepers taken so late, causing inconvenience to them with such short notice, when two years ago the Land Transport Authority was already aware that the building was unstable.

The Minister for Transport (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong): First, let me assure Members that the Government decided to acquire Hock Kee House in August this year after careful and extensive monitoring and review, and only after all other options were found to be not feasible. Let me explain why the decision to acquire Hock Kee House could not have been taken any earlier. I will also explain the reason for the short notice, namely, to minimise further delay to the construction of the Circle Line.

LTA learnt in 2003 that Hock Kee House was built on footings and not on piles. The professional assessment then was that while the building would likely experience some cracks, its stability

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would not be affected and that the building could be preserved despite the deep excavation works. There was therefore no basis to acquire Hock Kee House in 2003. Instead, LTA closely monitored the situation and the condition of the building. It also strengthened the design of the temporary works for the Circle Line construction in order to reduce the settlement of the building during the excavation.

In April last year, after the Nicoll Highway incident, excavation works next to Hock Kee House was temporarily suspended. Despite this, Hock Kee House continued to settle. By late last year, it had become clear to LTA that more had to be done to ensure that Hock Kee House could withstand the further ground movement that was likely to occur when deep excavation resumed. LTA then engaged two separate and independent engineering consultants to review the situation.

The consultants in their reports of March 2005 and July 2005 respectively concluded that Hock Kee House would be unsafe once deep excavation works resumed. Moreover, any strengthening works, such as underpinning the building, may, on the contrary, de-stabilise it. In short, it was not possible to strengthen Hock Kee House effectively. LTA then explored other possible solutions, eg, re-aligning the Circle Line, but found that these were also not feasible. Finally, after monitoring the situation and exploring alternatives for close to a year, the Government concluded that it had no choice but to acquire and demolish Hock Kee House.

Acquisition is a last resort. Only when ground conditions and extensive studies showed conclusively that there were no alternative solutions did the Government finally decide to acquire and demolish Hock Kee House so that construction of the Circle Line could proceed safely.

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LTA had to strike a difficult balance between giving the occupants and owners adequate time to move out, and minimising further delays to the Circle Line works. LTA was mindful that the larger public interest was to bring the Circle Line into operation as soon as possible. It therefore decided to acquire the building sooner rather than later, and to give special assistance to the residents who would be inconvenienced by the short notice.

LTA has put together a special financial assistance package over and above the normal compensation for land acquisition to assist owners and occupants in relocating quickly. Most of the owners have also been given ex-gratia compensation, on top of the statutory compensation. LTA has also worked with the HDB and the Singapore Land Authority to assist those who need alternative housing and business premises. To date, 34 out of 35 unit owners have indicated that they would move out by the deadline of 3rd October and, in fact, so far, occupants from 12 units have already moved out.

We appreciate that because of the short notice to move out, the occupants of Hock Kee House have been put to a fair amount of inconvenience. We sincerely apologise for this. We are very grateful that the occupants have cooperated with the different Government agencies so that Hock Kee House can be demolished, and the construction of the Circle Line can resume as soon as possible.

Mr Othman Haron Eusofe (Marine Parade): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am happy to note that the LTA and the Ministry have worked to help the residents. Many of them have seen me. Some of them are not happy with the compensation. I hope that the Minister will ask the Ministry and the LTA to

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continue working with SLA and the other Government agencies to see that the owners can receive fair and adequate compensation, including ex-gratia payments, where necessary.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, I can assure Mr Othman Haron Eusofe that LTA will indeed continue to work closely with the other Government agencies to assist the occupants and owners.

Sir, the owners who are not satisfied with the compensation can appeal to the Appeals Board (Land Acquisition). The Appeals Board would then review the appeals and decide accordingly.

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, the Minister mentioned that most of the occupants have already indicated that they would be able to move out by the deadline, except for one. In the event that they are not able to do so, what further assistance will be rendered to them, including the one person who has not given the indication that they will be able to move out by the given deadline?

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, so far, the discussions with owners and occupants have indicated that they are all able to. In fact, the last owner has not been able to confirm because he is still engaged with the tenant on the compensation to be paid to the tenant. But we are quite confident that they will be able to come to a successful conclusion in due course, and within the deadline given by LTA.