SINGAPORE, June 29 — The two ministers who rented out black and white colonial bungalows at Ridout Road have been cleared of all wrongdoing after two separate reviews into the...
SINGAPORE, June 29 — The two ministers who rented out black and white colonial bungalows at Ridout Road have been cleared of all wrongdoing after two separate reviews into the matter were initiated last month by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday.
“The Prime Minister accepts the two reports and has ordered that the two reports be published and tabled in Parliament as a Miscellaneous Paper.” It was also disclosed yesterday that Shanmugam had recused himself of any discussions related to his rental of 26 Ridout Road, and had instructed the then Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Law , Indranee Rajah, to handle any matters that may arise with regard to the property.
The one at 31 Ridout Road was leased to Balakrishnan from October 2019 and the tenancy was renewed three years later. It added that “more details on this issue” would be provided during the next parliamentary session in July.Findings on 26 Ridout Road Through his property agent, Shanmugam had initially negotiated with SLA on clearing of the adjacent land before leasing the property, at his own cost, as he was “not confident that the adjacent land would be maintained in a way that would keep the place free of health and safety issues”.
The cost of the site clearance, replanting of greenery and fencing was S$172,000 , which was initially borne by SLA and subsequently recovered from Shanmugam’s rent. On Shanmugam’s end, he paid S$61,400 to build the car porch, and on top of that, over S$400,000 for additional improvement works to the state property not covered by SLA’s restoration works.
He had instructed then Senior Minister of State in MinLaw, Indranee Rajah, to take over such matters, and that if the matter had to go beyond Indranee, that she should approach Senior Minister Teo.Shanmugam had also informed the deputy secretary at MinLaw that he would recuse himself of any discussions related to the rental of his property.
The property had a land size of 9,157.36 sqm and had been vacant since July 2013. It was listed on the State Property Information Online website, and had been vacant for five years following two unsuccessful bids. “The SLA Leasing Department subsequently accepted the lease proposal, because the final secured rent of S$19,000 was not below the prevailing guide rent, which was S$18,800,” said CPIB.
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