SINGAPORE: Housing, the hospital bed crunch and Singapore’s sustainability goals will be discussed in Parliament next Monday (Nov 7).
According to the order paper released on Friday, Members of Parliament filed 85 questions for oral answer on a range of topics, which included working conditions for security guards, the non-payment of foreign workers’ salaries and the situation in Myanmar.
Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh (WP-Aljunied) asked Minister for National Development Desmond Lee if the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will provide a clear breakdown of the total development costs of all new flats going forward, as well as the subsidies applied to the assessed market prices of these new flats.
Mr Singh’s question references the Oct 14 correction direction issued to alternative news website The Online Citizen and Mr Yeoh Lam Keong, a former chief economist of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, after they posted false and misleading statements about HDB’s deficits and Singapore’s past reserves.
MP Denise Phua (PAP-Jalan Besar) and MP Sharael Taha (PAP-Pasir Ris-Punggol) submitted questions about access to HDB flats for different groups of people.
Ms Phua’s question focuses on how the progressive wage model will affect the eligibility criteria for HDB rental housing, while Mr Sharael asked about lodging solutions for divorcees who are unable to afford their own HDB flats individually.
On the subject of long waiting times for Build-to-Order HDB flats, MP He Ting Ru (WP-Sengkang) submitted a question on whether the Government plans to conduct studies on how these waiting times have affected couples’ plans to have children.
MP Gan Thiam Poh (PAP-Ang Mo Kio), meanwhile, asked if the Ministry of National Development will consider increasing the supply of land for non-landed private residential developments as an additional cooling measure to meet the demand for private property.
Source: Channel News Asia
