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Synopsis :

At a Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Forum, Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir Chiam See Tong touches on the issue of subsidies for public housing. He says that there are different definitions of what constitutes a subsidy. The subsidy worked out by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) does not take into account the so called market value of the land on which the flats are built. He gives an example to demonstrate this. The SDP claims that there is no subsidy and the HDB is making a profit from the sale of flats. He recalls that at a Parliament sitting on 6 March 1985, Minister for National Development Teh Cheang Wan said that the SDP would be offered a piece of land to build four blocks of flats. Mr Chiam notes that in the December 1984/January 1985 issue of the SDP publication the 'Democrat', the SDP published a set of figures stating that the HDB makes a profit from the sale of flats. The logical thing to do is for the Minister to come out with his own set of facts and figures to prove the SDP wrong. But this has not been done and the SDP has been challenged to build flats instead. He feels that the challenge is a diversion trying to draw the people's attention from the real issue of flats being sold at a profit. The HDB should work out its facts and figures and prove to the SDP that it is wrong. The SDP has three months to take up the challenge. It will take it up, but there will be several pre-conditions. The first and foremost condition is that Mr Teh must refute the SDP's figures with his own facts and figures as verified by the Auditor General. Another condition is that the SDP will act as developers and not HDB agents. The party will employ its own contractors, the HDB will be the purchasers of the flats when they are completed and pay the SDP for them. Also the HDB will have to give an irrevocable bank guarantee to cover the full purchase price of the flats.  He then goes into details of the payment process and spells out the SDP's other conditions. These include the selection of sites to build the flats, the composition of the four blocks of flats, non-interference by the HDB in the building process, issues pertaining to design and the employment of local or international consultants to certify completion of the flats.