60. Closing and demolition, etc., of insanitary dwellings
Feedback & supportWhen a Medical Officer of Health or a Public Health Engineer has certified in writing that in his opinion any building or part of a building or anything attached to a building used or occupied as a dwelling is unfit for human habitation and cannot be rendered fit therefor without the removal, alteration or demolition in whole or in part of any partition, compartment, loft, gallery, pent-roof, out-house or other structure or erection or without the execution of such alterations or structural operations as he specifies, the Commissioner may by notice in writing require the owner thereof to carry into effect all or any of the following:
Medical Officer of Health
“Medical Officer of Health” means any registered medical practitioner in the service of the Government who is for the time being carrying out the duties of a health officer in any area or district in Singapore or the port limits thereof, and includes the Airport Health Officer, the Port Health Officer and any registered medical practitioner in the service of the Government who is engaged in duties arising out of or connected with this Act;
the removal, alteration or demolition of the whole or a part of the partitions or other erections or obstructions complained of;
the execution of such operations or structural alterations as are necessary to render the premises fit for human habitation and to guard against danger of disease.
The notice shall appoint not less than 24 hours in advance for the commencement of the operation enjoined and shall specify the period within which the operation shall be completed.
If the notice has not been complied with within the specified period, a Magistrate’s Court may, on the application of the Commissioner, make a mandatory order requiring the owner to carry into effect all or any of the things specified in that notice.
Commissioner
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Public Health appointed under section 3 and includes a Deputy Commissioner of Public Health and an Assistant Commissioner of Public Health appointed under that section;
Any person who, without the express sanction in writing of the Commissioner, replaces any partition, erection or obstruction removed under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000, and the Commissioner or any person authorised by him in that behalf in writing may enter upon such premises and remove such partition, erection or obstruction.
premises
“premises”, except in section 41, means messuages, buildings, lands, easements and hereditaments of any tenure, whether open or enclosed, whether built on or not, whether public or private, and whether maintained or not under statutory authority, and includes any place or structure, or any part thereof, used or intended to be used for human habitation or for employment or any other purpose whatsoever;
The Commissioner may also, by notice to be posted in a conspicuous position upon the building, require the owner or the occupiers, as the case may be, to cease to inhabit the building and to remove all goods, furniture and effects from the building within 48 hours from the posting of the notice.
building
“building” includes any house, hut, shed or roofed enclosure, whether used for the purpose of human habitation or otherwise, and also any wall, fence, platform, staging, gate, post, pillar, paling, frame, hoarding, slip, dock, wharf, pier, jetty, landing-stage or bridge, or any structure, support or foundation connected to the foregoing;
The owner and every occupying tenant shall thereupon comply with the requirements of the notice.
owner
“owner” means the person for the time being receiving the rent of any premises, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee or as receiver, or who would receive the same if the land or house comprised in the premises were let to a tenant;
Any owner or occupier in default shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50 a day during the period in which he has failed to comply with the requirements of the notice.
occupier
“occupier” means the person in occupation of any premises or having the charge, management or control thereof either on his own account or as agent of another person, but does not include a lodger;
At the expiration of 48 hours from the posting of the notice mentioned in subsection (5), the Commissioner or any person authorised by him in that behalf in writing may remove all goods, furniture and effects from the building.
The notice mentioned in subsection (5) shall be in the Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English languages.[61