Hansard, 1975-03-18

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [1st Allotted Day].

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Main and Development Estimates of Singapore for the financial year 1st April, 1975 to 31st March, 1976, contained in Paper Cmd. 3 of 1975. For convenience, I shall take the totals for each head of expenditure in the Main Estimates and the Development Estimates as they appear in the fifth and sixth columns respectively of the Summary of Estimated Expenditure on page 43 of the Paper. May I draw the attention of hon. Members to the Statement which appears at the bottom of page 41 of the Paper? The totals in respect of the Main Estimates for the two Heads, A "Civil List for the President of the Republic of Singapore" and B "Statutory Expenditure", are not to be voted, and I shall, therefore, not take these totals. Further, the total amount to be voted in respect of the Main Estimates is $2,202,770,19() and not the sum of $2,646,319,300 shown on page 43. I shall deal first with the heads of expenditure in respect of which amendments stand in the Order Paper Supplement. Head C -

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head C be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 1111. Sir, what has been the function of the Presidential Council up to now? As amounts of expenditure had been allocated for the Council in previous years. I would like to know how these amounts had been utilised in carrying out the functions of the Council. Secondly, the Presidential Council is supposed to safeguard the minority rights and interests. How successful has it been so far, and what has been done to fulfil these obligations? I would also like to know how often does the Presidential Council meet.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Speaker, Sir, the functions of the Presidential Council are spelt out in Articles 811 and 811. They are: `(1) . . , to consider and report on such matters affecting persons of any racial or religious community in Singapore as may be referred to the Council by Parliament or the Government. (2) . . , to draw attention to any Bill or to any subsidiary legislation if that Bill or subsidiary legislation is in the opinion of the Council a differentiating measure.' A differentiating measure means: `any measure which is, or is likely in its practical application to be, disadvantageous to persons of any racial or religious community and not equally disadvantageous to persons of other such communities, either directly by prejudicing persons of that community or indirectly by giving advantage to persons of another community.' The Council is served by the Office of the Clerk of Parliament, and for the present it is intended to continue with this arrangement. A total provision of $54,010 is included in the Main Estimates of Expenditure to meet expenditure on manpower and other operating expenses for the servicing of the Council in case at some later date it should be decided that a separate office be set up for the Council. The anticipated expenditure to be met will be expenditure on purchase of subsidiary legislation, Supplements to the Gazette, printing of the Council's Annual Report and stationery. Council members are not remunerated in any way. The total expenditure under the vote in FY 73 was $1,549.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, in view of the Minister's explanation, I wish to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $54,010 for Head C ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. Head H -

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head H be reduced by $10 in respect of item (a) of subhead AAA 3090. Sir, I am rising to perform an almost annual ritual. This question of compensation for accidents involving Government vehicles has cropped up several times before. In 1973 I said that if the situation did not appear to get better I would say something about it again, and that is why I am standing up before you here today. According to information in the old volumes of Hansard, in March 1973 a total sum of nearly $125,000 was paid out in compensation. According to a question which I tabled for written answer, the total for FY 74 for the 11 months of 1974 is $376,398.80, a sum that represents three times what it was in 1973. The matter has really become much worse. But to compound the situation it would appear that compensation has to be paid even for accidents involving Police vehicles because a sum of $62,000 has been paid out in respect of accidents involving the Police. Under such circumstances, the situation requires some very strong admonition either from the Minister or in some way through the Attorney-General's Chambers. It is for this reason that I have risen to speak on this matter. Another point is that the appropriation for 1974 is $100,000 while the sum that is going to be paid out or has been paid out so far is $376,000. This discrepancy between the appropriation and the actual sum paid out has appeared again and again in the Estimates. Sir, I suggest that when the next Estimates are prepared we put in a sum that is perhaps closer to the experience that we have had so that Members can have an idea of the extent of compensation that has been paid, instead of having to find out by asking for a written answer to a question.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, as for accidents involving Government vehicles, the expenditure under this head for the financial year 1974-75 up to 28th February this year is $139,489.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Conceicao, you have actually exceeded the guillotine time. Would you like to withdraw your amendment?

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 In that case, Mr Speaker, Sir, I withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave withdrawn. The sum of $2,099,940 for Head H ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $563,000 for Head H ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head J -

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BAA 1109. Sir, pollution caused by lorries, taxis and other commercial vehicles has decreased considerably. Yet there seems to be no decrease in the pollution caused by buses owned by the Singapore Bus Service. It is common to see buses continuously emitting smoke throughout their journeys. I am sure the Minister must have noticed this. What efforts are being made to reduce this health hazard? In complete contrast, the Scheme B buses are in excellent condition and do not emit poisonous smoke, although all the buses are using the same fuel. To make matters worse, some of the SBS buses are so noisy that if one is not careful one's eardrums may burst especially if one happens to be too close to the engine. Sir, the Showa Maru incident was given immense publicity as a result of the unique damage caused to Singapore and our neighbours. Our neighbours have already made public their claims for the damage. The damage to us was greater than that to our neighbours. Besides the damage we have also incurred a huge expenditure in our fight to minimise the pollution. What was the outcome of the Foreign Ministers' meeting which was specially convened to discuss this incident and its related issues? What measures are being taken to ensure that tankers, like the Showa Maru, do not create further damage to our waters and seashores?

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Speaker, Sir, I think we all know that the main cause of excessive smoke from buses, cars and other vehicles is bad maintenance of their engines. Anyway, because of the enforcement action taken by the Registry of Vehicles and the Traffic Police, matters have improved. Owners are more careful and, with the exception of buses, they have maintained their vehicles quite well. There has been an improvement in the control of smoke pollution all over Singapore. I quite agree with the Member for Anson that Scheme B buses are in a much better condition. They do not make so much noise, nor do they emit smoke as much as the SBS buses. But I would like to inform him that Scheme B buses are not as heavily used and so there is less deterioration and thus easier to maintain. I can assure him that with more new SBS buses coming to the scene and with a team of army personnel helping in the maintenance of the buses, the situation will improve. However, it will be some time before any improvement in the SBS could be seen.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Speaker, Sir, may I, on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, answer the Member for Anson's query on the Showa Maru incident? The incident, as the Member knows, brought our Foreign Minister and those of the neighbouring countries together to discuss the safety of navigation and the control of marine pollution in the Straits of Malacca and the Straits of Singapore. As the Member would have read in the press, a Ministerial Council was formed as a result of the meeting. A Traffic Separation Scheme and the use of additional navigational aids were also considered at the meeting and, if implemented, the safety of navigation in the Straits would be further enhanced. The Foreign Ministers also agreed that there should be cooperation and consultation amongst the three countries when submitting claims for compensation arising out of oil spills. These are measures to ensure that while oil tankers, including the Very Large Crude Carriers, use the Straits of Malacca and the Straits of Singapore, they will not create oil spills to damage our waters and seashores and those of our neighbours. On the Showa Maru incident itself, the Port of Singapore Authority has submitted a claim for $3.8 million. These are specific claims on amounts actually expended in both fighting pollution and preventing the spread of pollution caused by the oil spills. As regards general damages, the matter is somewhat complicated and is still under consideration.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, on the matter of buses I think there is no proper control over them. I understand that spare parts are allowed to lie in an open space and anybody can take them out. There is no proper control by SBS, and therefore you can expect their buses to give out smoke. However, I withdraw my amendment.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, may I clarify the position? I am not responsible for the mechanical maintenance of the buses, but partly responsible for the control and monitoring of pollution caused by the buses emitting smoke. If the Member wants satisfaction about how spare parts are used by the SBS, I think he should ask my colleague, the Minister for Communications. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of item (a) of subhead AAA 8101. Sir, the development of parks in the Public Utilities Board premises at MacRitchie Reservoir is indeed an advantage for the people. It is essential that we develop parks because more than 40% of our people live in high-rise flats and need an environment for relaxation, lots of trees, greenery and serenity. In addition, in MacRitchie a restaurant enables those who can afford to refresh themselves. I presume the rental is high and so the cost for refreshment is also high. It is the policy of the park authorities to ensure that the park is not littered and stringent measures have been taken to ensure that this is adhered to. Soft drinks are not allowed in the park for fear of littering, and rightly so. It would also result in the restaurant being put out of business. During the first quarter of each year, many school children frequent the MacRitchie Reservoir, not because they want to enjoy the serenity of the park and its surroundings but because, as part of their school activities, they need to participate in cross-country races. These children go there as groups organised by their schools. Of course, the usual formalities have to be carried out when applications are made by the schools to the Ministry of Education for the use of MacRitchie Reservoir as a cross-country track. These applications are normally approved by the Water Department, Public Utilities Board, and conditions are set down governing the use of the reservoir premises. These conditions are issued by the Chief Water Engineer. The conditions to be observed are on standard cyclostyled sheets and there are ten conditions in all. Most conditions stress on anti-littering and anti-pollution measures that need to be taken. However, regulation (10), "No soft drinks are allowed in reservoir grounds", puzzles me. It is usual for children, after having run a cross-country race of 2.1 miles for girls and 3.1 miles for boys, to want to quench their thirst with some ice-cold water or soft drinks. To run between two and three miles is pretty tiring especially in our hot climate, and it is more than usual for children to need more than one bottle of iced soft drink or more than one glass of ice-cold water at the end of the race. But as soft drinks are not allowed in the reservoir grounds, there is no alternative but for the children to purchase these drinks from the restaurant at the fairly exorbitant price of 35 cents a bottle which, mind you, is not iced because the great number of children participating makes it very difficult for the caterer to ice hundreds of drinks. So the children will have to make-do with warm bottled drinks which is most unsatisfying. 3.00 p.m. In addition, many of the children do without drinks at all because they cannot afford them at such prices. Many children have to dig into their savings for thirst quenchers during cross-country races at MacRitchie. Some children, because they are more capable, are chosen to represent their schools in cross-country runs, so they turn up more than once to MacRitchie and incur still greater costs. I fail to understand why if these cross-country races are organised by schools, and school principals and teachers are responsible people, the PUB cannot make some arrangements so as to enable schools to organise their own thirst quenching facilities in the car park in the reservoir ground. Children can then be provided with cheaper and ice-cold drinks. If properly organised, the drinks would cost no more than 5 cents a glass or even cheaper. The money saved, the satisfaction derived by the children, and the assurance that MacRitchie is not littered, would be enough arguments for the Chief Water Engineer to allow soft drinks into the reservoir grounds during organised cross-country races.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, I think the key to the complaint made here is the term, "if properly organised". In the experience of the PUB, on many occasions when students participated in cross-country runs in the reservoirs, they were found littering. So I say "if properly organised" is the answer. Our experience shows that these runs have not been properly organised on many occasions. That is the reason why, among the 10 conditions imposed by the Chief Water Engineer for the use of MacRitchie Reservoir is one disallowing soft drinks. But after listening to the eloquent appeal from the hon. Member, I think arrangements can be made with the schools and the Chief Water Engineer for children to have ice-cold cheap drinks, if the runs are properly organised. I will take this matter up with the Chief Water Engineer of the PUB, and between the Ministry of Education and the PUB they should be able to work out a scheme to prevent littering in the reservoirs as well as to provide cheap cold drinks for the children.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, that was the most satisfactory answer by the Hon. Minister. I thank him very much for his consideration, and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 8201. Sir, the more we deal with the daily affairs of the people, the more we meet with problems. It is inevitable. The PUB has to ensure the supply of water and electricity to 2.2 million people involving some 500,000 consumer accounts. The consumers are of different levels of education and have different capacities for understanding. The PUB has to depend on some 160 meter-readers to go from house to house to read the meters for the calculation of consumers' monthly bills. It is not an easy task for each meter reader to visit some 3,000 households to read meters to any degree of satisfaction. Therefore, most of the monthly bills give actual readings once in every two months or are based on the average consumption over three months. This mode of calculation is contained in the bills sent by the PUB to consumers for their information. Using the pretext of shortage of personnel or the wording as appearing on the bill in order to arrive at any calculation is groundless, inaccurate and unreliable. For instance, in the last year certain consumers' bills suddenly jumped by 100% to 200%. After enquiries by letter, the bill for the following month returned to normal. But after two or three months the bill would again increase by 200%. This is rather erratic and puzzling. To the rich people it does not matter very much, but to people in lower income group who have very tight budgets, it it very disturbing to have to meet the high cost of PUB bills.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Mr Yeo, are you on the right subhead - Loan to Public Utilities Board?

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 (In Mandarin): Yes, I am talking first on the complaints about PUB bills, Sir. To the low income group people, it is a big burden to them. Sir, to meet the problem of shortage of staff and the dissatisfaction of the increasing number of consumers, and to rectify the situation to the satisfaction of both sides on a long term basis, I suggest that every household should be given the right to record their own consumption of public utilities so that this record can be used by the PUB to calculate the following month's bill. To do this the PUB should carry out publicity campaigns through the press and TV to tell the people how to record their bills correctly. To facilitate easy reading and recording, diagrams and instructions can be included in the PUB's monthly bills, also PUB meter-readers can turn up on the first such occasion to help the consumers record correctly and to avoid future contention. Through the mass media, the PUB should be able to educate members of the public on how to take readings of their consumption rates. All the necessary diagrams can be given to help the consumers to get proper readings and to submit them to the PUB for billing according to their own readings, and any adjustments may be made later against actual official readings. Mr Speaker, Sir, at my Meet-the-People sessions, I received complaints from members of the public that there had been irregularities and unnecessary increases in the PUB bills. Perhaps other Members of the House have also come across such complaints. Therefore, by education and other means of teaching consumers to take their own readings, we will be able to reduce the number of consumers' complaints and this will also help solve the PUB's shortage of meter-readers and other problems.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 Sir, I think the Member believes that attack is the best means of defence, and that is why he is complaining loudly for a start. I agree with him that it would be a very good thing if consumers can read their own meters. In fact, the PUB is planning to teach consumers to read their own meters. As long as consumers take their readings correctly and send them in by the scheduled date, the PUB will be able to check them from time to time. That will save us a lot of expenditure in engaging meter-readers. There are a total of 400.000 accounts, and there are about a million meters to be read. We are working on a documentary with the RTS at the moment and it is expected to be ready by May. The documentary will teach the public how to read their own meters. We are also printing cards for consumers to record their meter readings. These readings can then be checked by the meter readers from time to time. But I would like to take this opportunity to say that the complaint about 100-200% increase in the consumers' bill is not quite true. I have come across cases where, in actual fact, consumers have used a 100% or more than the previous month's consumption. In one of my Meet-the-People sessions, I had a consumer who showed me his PUB bills. The average for six months was about $80 per month, but for the month in question the amount billed was about $200. I asked him whether he had any celebration in his house. He said no. On investigation it was found that a dinner party took place for three successive nights to celebrate a wedding. PUB bills can increase substantially because of a leaking water pipe or a faulty meter. Under these circumstances, the consumer can ask for the meter to be checked, and if the meter is proved to be faulty, there will be a refund or the leak detected and repaired.

MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 (In Mandarin): Sir, I am not fabricating all these complaints about the undue increase of PUB bills by 100-200%. In fact, on Friday, the 14th of March this year at my Meet-the-People session I met a member of the public who came to see me with his PUB bills. His monthly bills were at first $14.56 and then it increased to $51.