Local Government Integration (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 3/1975

Read the first time on 25th February 1975.

An Act to amend the Local Government Integration Act (Chapter 210 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 Local Government Integration (Amendment) Act, 1975 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 15

2. Section 15 of the Local Government Integration Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended by deleting the word “public” appearing in the second line of paragraph (d) thereof.

New section 16A

3. The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 16 thereof the following new section: —

“Declaration to vest street reserves in Government

16A.—(1) Where the Director intends to make any new street or widen, open, enlarge or otherwise improve any existing street, he may prepare a plan incorporating all premises set aside as street reserves pursuant to any development proposals approved by the competent authority and, by an instrument in the form approved by the Registrar of Titles or the Registrar of Deeds, as the case may be, declare that the street reserves shall vest in the Government.

(2) Any plan prepared by the Director under this section shall comply with the requirements of the Land Titles Act (Cap. 276) in respect of registered land and of the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 281) in respect of other lands and shall show thereon the premises which will vest in the Government.

(3) Such a declaration shall be published in the Gazette.

(4) Where any street reserve that has become vested in the Government under the provisions of this section is comprised of premises included in separate lots already set aside as part of a street reserve, the declaration shall be registered against those lots under the provisions of the Land Titles Act in respect of registered land and under the provisions of the Registration of Deeds Act in respect of other lands.

(5) Where any street reserve that has become vested in the Government under the provisions of this section is comprised of premises included in an existing lot or existing lots, the premises forming the street shall be excised from the existing lot or lots and the declaration shall be registered in respect of the excised portions under the provisions of the Land Titles Act in respect of registered land and under the provisions of the Registration of Deeds Act in respect of other lands.

(6) Upon such registration the premises forming the street reserve shall vest in the Government free from all encumbrances and where the premises are held under a statutory land grant, such vesting shall not be deemed to create a sub-division within the meaning of the State Lands Act (Cap. 285).

(7) No compensation shall be payable for any premises vested in the Government pursuant to this section.

(8) When the Director has pursuant to the provisions of this section registered any instrument, he may take possession of the premises described therein and may proceed to demolish and remove any building or portion of any building forming part thereof.”.

Amendment of section 17

4. Section 17 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after subsection (7) thereof the following new subsection: —

“(8) For the purposes of this section the construction of a new street may include the widening, opening, enlarging or otherwise improving any part or parts of any existing private street for the purpose of constructing the new street.”.

Amendment of section 18

5. Section 18 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting the word “and” appearing at the end of paragraph (j) of subsection (2) thereof;

(b)

by deleting the full-stop appearing at the end of paragraph (k) of subsection (2) thereof and substituting therefor the expression “; and”;

(c)

by inserting immediately after paragraph (k) of subsection (2) thereof the following new paragraph: —

“(l)	the planting of trees.”; and

(d)

by deleting paragraph (c) of subsection (8) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(c)

without the consent in writing of the Director erects any building or plants any hedge in such manner that any part thereof is —

(i)	in any direction less than eighteen feet from the centre of the roadway of any street, not being a public street; or
(ii)	within the area laid out as a reserve for any street by the competent authority; or
(iii)	in any direction less than thirty-six feet from the opposite side of any street or path used or intended to be used as the means of access to two or more houses exclusive of the width of any footway as the Director requires; or”.

Amendment of section 27

6. Subsection (1) of section 27 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the word “lighting” appearing in the third line thereof the words “or otherwise made up”.

Amendment of section 28

7. Subsection (7) of section 28 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by inserting immediately after the word “lying” appearing in the eighth line of paragraph (b) thereof the words “beyond the street reserve set aside pursuant to any development proposals approved by the competent authority or where no such reserve has been set aside”; and

(b)

by deleting paragraph (c) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(c)

where there are buildings forming part of the premises acquired, compensation shall be paid for the premises, but in ascertaining the compensation the value of —

(i)	all premises lying within the street reserve set aside pursuant to any development proposals approved by the competent authority; and
(ii)	where there is no such reserve, all premises lying within a distance of eighteen feet from the centre of the street existing at the date of the aforesaid decision,

shall not be taken into account, and no compensation for severance of land shall be payable where the whole of a building is acquired;”.

Amendment of section 36

8. Subsection (1) of section 36 of the principal Act is hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —

“(1) If the roadway, drain or verandah-way in or adjoining any street is endangered or is injured by or in consequence of any excavation on land adjoining the roadway, drain or verandah-way, the Director may repair and make good the damage done or cause remedial action of a preventive nature to be effected.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 58

9. Section 58 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Back-lanes to be levelled, etc., by Director

58.—(1) The Director shall level, pave, metal, channel and drain, and may provide lighting for, all back-lanes set apart or laid out under section 52 of this Act, or vested in the Government under the provisions of subsection (4) of section 57 of this Act when sufficient land has been so set apart or laid out which in the opinion of the Director is adequate to construct a back-lane.

(2) When the Director has made up a back-lane he may recover the costs of acquiring the land for and of making up the back-lane from the owners of premises abutting on the back-lane.

(3) Such costs shall be paid by the person or persons who are the owners when the work is completed according to the frontage of their respective premises in such proportions as are settled by the Director.

(4) If the owner of any such premises is dissatisfied by such apportionment of costs, he may appeal to the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final.

(5) The Director may, if he thinks fit, decide that in settling the apportionment regard shall be had to the following considerations: —

(a)	the degree of benefit accruing to any premises by the making up of the back-lane; and
(b)	the amount and value of any works already executed by the owners or occupiers of any such premises.

(6) The Director may, in any estimate of the expenses of works, include reasonable charges in respect of survey and superintendence.

(7) The Director may, if he thinks fit, pay the whole or any part of the expenses of the works and the payment or part of the expenses may be made in such manner as the Director thinks fit to the exclusion of other owners or to relieve one owner to a greater extent than other owners.

(8) The provisions of section 102 of this Act shall apply to any sum payable by the owners under this section.”.

Amendment of section 102

10. Section 102 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after subsection (7) thereof the following new subsection: —

“(8) The authority may charge interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent per annum on any sum remaining unpaid at the expiry of the prescribed time.”.

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