Tourist Promotion Board (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 42/1975

Read the first time on 29th July 1975.
An Act to amend the Tourist Promotion Board Act (Chapter 205 of the Revised Edition).
Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —
Short title
1.  This Act may be cited as the Tourist Promotion Board (Amendment) Act, 1975.
Amendment of long title
2.  The long title to the Tourist Promotion Board Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended by inserting immediately before the word “Tourist” appearing in the first line thereof the word “Singapore”.
Amendment of section 2
3.  Section 2 of the principal Act is hereby amended —
(a)by inserting immediately after the word “the” appearing in the first line of the definition of “Board” appearing therein the word “Singapore”; and
(b)by deleting the definition of “tourist enterprise” appearing therein and substituting therefor the following: —
“ “tourist enterprise” means —
(a)any business which provides national or international carriage for passengers; or
(b)any business which, either wholly or in part, provides or arranges services for visitors to Singapore or other places outside Singapore, by way of transport, accommodation, tours or guides, whether or not such services are provided within or outside Singapore; or
(c)any business which, either wholly or in part, retails goods for sale to visitors to Singapore; or
(d)any association of such businesses,
and includes any exhibition, show, fair, publicity campaign or other undertaking intended wholly or in part for the benefit of, or for the purpose of attracting, visitors to Singapore.”.
Amendment of section 3
3.  Section 3 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Tourist” appearing in the second line of subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the words “Singapore Tourist”.
Repeal of section 15A
4.  Section 15A of the principal Act is hereby repealed.
Repeal and re-enactment of section 16
5.  Section 16 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —
Financial provisions
16.  The financial provisions set out in the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the Board.”.
Amendment of section 19C
6.  Section 19C of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately before the word “Schedule” appearing in subsection (1) thereof and in the marginal reference thereto the word “First”.
Amendment of the Schedule
7.  The Schedule to the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “THE” appearing in the heading thereto and substituting therefor the word “FIRST”.
New Schedule
8.  The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the First Schedule thereto the following new Schedule: —
SECOND SCHEDULE
(Section 16).
Financial Provisions
1.  The Board shall keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in custody of, the Board and over the expenditure incurred by the Board.
2.  The accounts of the Board shall be audited by the Auditor-General or by an auditor appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the Auditor”).
3.  The fees of the Auditor shall be paid by the Board.
4.  The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of the financial year, prepare and submit the financial statements in respect of that year to the Auditor who shall audit and report on them.
5.  The Auditor shall report —
(a)whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Board; and
(b)such other matters arising from the audit as he considers should be reported.
6.  The Auditor shall state in his report whether —
(a)proper accounting and other records have been kept; and
(b)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.
7.  The Auditor may at any other time report to the Minister through the Board upon any matter arising out of the performance of his audit.
8.  The Auditor or any person authorised by him is entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating directly or indirectly to the financial transactions of the Board.
9.  The Auditor or any person authorised by him may make copies of, or make extracts from, any such accounting and other records.
10.  The Auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information which such person possesses or has access as the Auditor or any duly authorised person considers necessary for the purposes of the functions of the Auditor under this Act.
11.  Any officer of the Board who refuses or fails without any reasonable cause to allow the Auditor access to any accounting and other records of the Board in his custody or power or to give any information possessed by him as and when required or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the Auditor in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers 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.
12.  As soon as the accounts of the Board and the financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a copy of the audited financial statements signed by the Chairman, together with a copy of any report made by the Auditor, shall be submitted to the Minister.
13.  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.
14.  The Minister shall cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the Auditor’s report to be presented to Parliament.”.