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Jurong Town Corporation (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 19/1980

Read the first time on 29th July 1980.

An Act to amend the Jurong Town Corporation Act (Chapter 209 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 Jurong Town Corporation (Amendment) Act, 1980, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Jurong Town Corporation Act (hereinafter in this Act called the principal Act) is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately before the definition of “Chairman”, the following definition: —

“ “authorised occupier” means a person who is named in an application made to the Corporation as the person who intends to reside in the flat, house or building sold or to be sold by the Corporation under Part IV of this Act or any person who is authorised in writing by the Corporation to reside therein;”;

(b)

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “Chairman”, the following definition: —

“ “commercial property” means any flat, house or building or any part thereof which is permitted to be used pursuant to the Planning Act (Cap. 279) or any other written law for the purpose of carrying on any business or which is lawfully so used;”; and

(c)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of the definition of “owner” and substituting a semi-colon, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following definition: —

“ “Part” means Part of this Act.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 30

3. Section 30 of the principal Act is repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Special provisions relating to the sale of land by the Corporation

30. For the purposes of registration of an assurance relating to the sale by the Corporation of any land, the mortgage of such land in favour of the Corporation or the reconveyance or discharge of such mortgage —

(a)	in the case of land registered under the provisions of the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 281), section 12 of that Act shall not apply; and
(b)	in the case of land registered under the provisions of the Land Titles Act (Cap. 276) where a solicitor is not employed by the Corporation, a certificate of an officer authorised in writing in that behalf by the Corporation shall be sufficient for the purposes of section 50 of that Act.”.

New section 38A

4. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 38, the following section: —

“Special provisions relating to the sale of flat, house or building

38A.—(1) Where —

(a)

a flat is sold by the Corporation to any person under the provisions of this Part; or

(b)

any estate or interest in such flat is —

(i)	subsequently transferred by or to any person with the written consent of the Corporation; or
(ii)	surrendered to the Corporation,

and a solicitor is not employed by such person to act for him in the transaction, the Corporation may by its duly authorised officer act for such person.

(2) Where the Corporation acts for such person as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, then for the purposes of the registration of any instrument relating to the sale of the flat or the aforesaid transaction in respect of the flat —

(a)	in the case of an instrument which is required to be registered under the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 281), section 12 of that Act shall not apply if a duly authorised officer of the Corporation certifies that such flat has been sold under the provisions of this Part; and
(b)	in the case of an instrument which is required to be registered under the provisions of the Land Titles Act (Cap. 276), a certificate of an officer of the Corporation duly authorised by the Corporation to act for such person mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall be sufficient for the purposes of subsection (4) of section 50 of that Act.

(3) For the purposes of this section —

“flat” means any flat, house or other building sold by the Corporation under the provisions of this Part;

“transfer”, with reference to a flat, means the conveyance, sale, purchase, assignment, mortgage, charge or the disposal in any manner of any estate or interest in a flat and includes a discharge of a mortgage, or a reconveyance, or the devolution of the rights of a deceased owner of a flat to another person, and “is transferred” shall be construed accordingly.

(4) Section 35 of the Legal Profession Act (Cap. 217) shall not apply to any officer of the Corporation acting for any party to the transactions referred to in subsection (1) of this section.”.

Amendment of section 39

5. Section 39 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and substituting the following: —

“(b)

has, at any time within thirty months immediately prior to the date of making an application to the Corporation to purchase the same, or between the date of such application and the date of completion of the purchase of the flat, house or building, sold any flat, house, building or land of which he was the owner, or divested himself of any interest therein.”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (8), the following subsection: —

“(9) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the Corporation may sell or lease a flat, house or other building to any person, notwithstanding that such person, his spouse or any authorised occupier has purchased or acquired with the prior written consent of the Corporation, any commercial property not exceeding in value two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or such higher value as the Minister may allow, and the said commercial property is used or intended to be used by any such person for business purposes.”.

Repeal of section 40

6. Section 40 of the principal Act is repealed.

Amendment of section 42

7. Section 42 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “subsection (5)” in the fourth line of subsection (8) and substituting the words “subsection (4)”.

Amendment of section 45A

8. Section 45A of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (c) of subsection (1) and substituting the following: —

“(c)	if the flat, house or other building has in the opinion of the Corporation been used otherwise than for the purpose permitted by the lease; or”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (1), the following subsection: —

“(1A) Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any owner or his spouse or any authorised occupier who has purchased or acquired, with the prior written consent of the Corporation, any commercial property not exceeding in value two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or such higher value as the Minister may allow and the said commercial property is used or intended to be used by any such person for business purposes.”.

New section 45G

9. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 45F, the following section: —

“Direction of Minister to be conclusive evidence

45G. If any dispute arises or should a ruling be required as to whether any property is a commercial property within the meaning of this Act, a direction by the Minister to the effect that such property is, or is not, a commercial property shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes; every such direction shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court or tribunal.”.

Amendment of section 46

10. Subsection (1) of section 46 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (b) and substituting the following: —

“(b)	the persons to whom the flat, house or building may be sold and the persons who are allowed to stay in the flat, house or building, including the qualifications as to income, the minimum number in the family, citizenship and ownership of any other properties by all or any such persons;”;

(b)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (e);

(c)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (f) and substituting a semi-colon; and

(d)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (f), the following paragraphs: —

“(g)

prescribing the fees to be charged by the Corporation for acting for any person in the sale, purchase transmission of the interest of a deceased owner, transfer, assignment, mortgage, discharge of a mortgage, reconveyance, or surrender, of a flat sold under the provisions of this Part or for acting for any surviving joint owner of such a flat in his application to register his entitlement consequent upon the death of the other joint owner; and

(h)

prescribing the penalty (such penalty, if unpaid, to constitute a debt due to the Corporation and be recoverable as such) to be paid by the owner of any flat, house or other building sold under the provisions of this Part or by any applicant for such flat, house or other building for non-observance or non-compliance with any of the restrictions, conditions or requirements of section 39, 45 or 45A of this Act, where the Corporation does not institute proceedings against him under any of the said sections.”.

Amendment of section 59

11. Section 59 of the principal Act is amended by deleting paragraph (b) and substituting the following paragraphs: —

“(b)	if it is sent to the person by registered post at his flat, house or building (whether or not it has been received by him); or
(c)	if it is affixed to some conspicuous part of his flat, house or building.”.

Miscellaneous amendments

12. The following provisions of the principal Act are amended by deleting the words “this Act” wherever they appear therein and substituting in each case the words “this Part”: —

Sections 37(2), 38(1), 41(1), 46(1)(a) and 46(1)(f).