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Public Utilities (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 17/1977

Read the first time on 9th November 1977.

An Act to amend the Public Utilities Act (Chapter 211 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Public Utilities (Amendment) Act, 1977, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 5

2. Section 5 of the Public Utilities Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended by deleting subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(1) The Board shall consist of —

(a)	a Chairman to be appointed by the Minister; and
(b)	not less than five but not more than eleven members to be appointed by the Minister.”.

Amendment of section 10

3. Section 10 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “A majority of the” appearing in the first line of subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the word “Three”.

Amendment of section 34

4. Section 34 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after subsection (3) thereof the following new subsection: —

“(4) The Chief Financial Officer shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of the Board’s moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Board and over the expenditure incurred by the Board.”.

Amendment of section 35

5. Section 35 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(1) The accounts of the Board shall be audited by the Auditor-General or an auditor appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the auditor”).”; and

(b)

by deleting subsection (4) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(4) Any person who, being required by the auditor under subsection (3) of this section to produce such book, deed, contract, account, voucher or other document or to appear before him and make and sign such statement or to furnish such information, fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the requisition or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the auditor in the performance of his duties under this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars and in the case of a continuing offence to a further fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for every day or part thereof during which the offence is continued after conviction.”.

Amendment of section 36

6. Section 36 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by renumbering the section as subsection (1); and

(b)

by inserting immediately after subsection (1) thereof the following new subsections: —

“(2) The auditor shall report —

(a)	whether the financial statements relating to the accounts of the Board show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Board; and
(b)	on such other matters arising from the audit as he considers necessary.

(3) The auditor shall state in his report whether —

(a)	proper accounting and other records have been kept;
(b)	the financial statements are prepared on a basis similar to that adopted for the preceding year;
(c)	the financial statements are in agreement with the accounting and other records; and
(d)	the receipt, expenditure and investment of moneys, and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Board during the year have been in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(4) Where the Auditor-General has not been appointed to be the auditor a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time they are submitted to the Board.”.