2. Speeches
2nd Reading Speech by Mr Lim Hng Kiang on The Jurong Town Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2013
21 October 2013
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Second Reading Speech by
Mr Lim Hng Kiang Minister for Trade & Industry on
The Jurong Town Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2013
Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a second time."
2. The Jurong Town Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2013 comprises three sets of amendments to the Jurong Town Corporation Act (the “JTC Act”).
3. The first set of amendments provides a new function and powers for JTC Corporation (JTC) to obtain statistical information relating to industrial properties from members of the public, private establishments and selected government agencies.
Collection of Industrial Property Statistics
4. Today, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) collects, compiles, analyses and disseminates a wide range of statistics on the residential, commercial and industrial property sectors.
5. As the industrial property market grows more diverse and complex, we need to channel more dedicated efforts and resources to gathering and analysing statistics in this sector to improve market transparency and stability. As such, JTC, as the main Government agency overseeing the industrial property market, has been tasked to undertake the statistics function for the industrial property sector.
6. The proposed amendments will bring about two key benefits. First, with access to timely and comprehensive data, JTC will be better able to ensure sufficient supply and stability in the industrial property market.
7. Second, JTC will be able to release public information on the industrial property market which will be more comprehensive and representative of the various industrial segments, for example, statistics on different industrial zones. Through the REACH website, the public has also provided other suggestions to improve the comprehensiveness of the industrial property market data published. The government appreciates this constructive feedback. JTC will take in the suggestions in coming up with its industrial property market reports.
Obtaining Information from Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and Urban Redevelopment Authority
8. To minimise the burden on respondents, JTC will continue URA’s current practice of using administrative data collected by IRAS in its compilation of statistics, instead of expending duplicative efforts to collect the same information from the public. The amendment will explicitly allow JTC to obtain property tax and stamp duty data from IRAS for statistical purposes.
9. In addition, JTC will obtain additional industrial property data from URA, which will continue to collect data from mixed-use developments that are pre-dominantly commercial but contain industrial components.
Protection of Confidentiality
10. Mdm Speaker, I will now describe the various safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the data collected and the integrity of datasets.
11. Internally, JTC will separate its industrial property developer and statistics collection functions. A Research & Statistics Department (RSD) has been set up in JTC to undertake the statistics collection function. To prevent unauthorised access and misuse of data, the RSD will be physically and electronically ring-fenced from all other JTC’s departments. Data collected under the Act will be stored and handled within the RSD’s office and accessible only to RSD’s officers.
12. Externally, to both the public and other Government agencies, JTC will only publish data obtained under the JTC Act in the form of aggregated statistics, or share individual data under the exceptions explicitly set out within the Act.
13. To guard against any leaks, the proposed amendment also includes a maximum fine of $2,000, or imprisonment for a term of up to 12 months, or both, as punishment for unpermitted disclosure.
14. Consequential amendments to the Urban Redevelopment Authority Act (“URA Act”) will be made to align the provisions on collection of statistical information in the URA Act with those in the JTC Act.
Changes to JTC Board and Removal of Land Acquisition Powers
15. The remaining two sets of amendments to the JTC Act are administrative in nature.
16. The maximum membership size of the JTC Board will be increased from 11 to 14, excluding the Chairman, and the quorum, increased correspondingly. In the last 10 years, there have been significant changes to JTC’s operating environment. Industrial needs have become more complex and fast changing. JTC will benefit from the broader and greater expertise that the additional members bring, in strategic thinking, financial management and property market expertise.
17. In addition, JTC’s land acquisition powers will be removed as all land acquisitions are now conducted through SLA under the Land Acquisition Act (Cap. 152).
Conclusion
18. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move.