SINGAPORE: Issues about the rentals for 26 and 31 Ridout Road, a topic in the news since May, will be discussed in Parliament on Monday (July 3). Four ministers are scheduled to deliver statements, including the two directly involved, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
A number of opposition MPs have filed Parliamentary Questions regarding the issue. Workers’ Party chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh filed the following questions:
To ask the Prime Minister (a) how will the Government assure the public that the Minister for Law and the Minister for Foreign Affairs were not in receipt of any privileged information pertaining to the lease of 26 and 31 Ridout Road, respectively; and (b) whether there are any rules, conventions or policies to ensure that Cabinet Ministers do not take advantage of privileged information received in the course of their official or non-official duties in regard to the lease of Government properties.
To ask the Prime Minister what are the Government’s reasons for not calling a press conference in May 2023 to address the public allegations in regard to the lease of 26 and 31 Ridout Road to the Minister for Law and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, respectively.
To ask the Minister for Law what was the Guide Rent set by SLA for the lease of 26 and 31 Ridout Road when they were leased out to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Law, respectively.
His fellow Aljunied GRC MP, Mr Gerald Giam, asked whether there are further plans to redevelop more of the land where black-and-white colonial bungalows are bow located for public housing, industry or commerce and whether the bidding process of these SLA-managed bungalows is audited by the Auditor-General’s Office yearly.
There are 23 questions in all that the four ministerial statements will be addressed.
Aside from Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean and Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong will speak on reviewing rentals for the properties in question and the rental of state properties, respectively.
Last week, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) found no corruption or criminal wrongdoing from Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan.
/TISG
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