SINGAPORE: A correction direction has been issued to Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam over social media posts about the rental of two black-and-white bungalows at 26 and 31 Ridout Road by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan respectively.
Mr Jeyaretnam's Facebook and LinkedIn posts on Jul 27 contained untrue statements, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said in a media release on Wednesday (Aug 2).
Under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), he will be required to carry a correction notice on his Facebook and LinkedIn posts, stating that it contains a false statement of fact, and include a link to the government's clarification.
The opposition politician and Reform Party chief alleged in his posts that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) charged Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan rent at below market value for 26 Ridout Road and 31 Ridout Road.
"As established in the review conducted by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, the rental paid by both Ministers were at fair market value and not below market valuation," said MinLaw.
"There was no evidence that the Ministers were given favourable rental rates due to their positions."
The ministry added that the rental paid by the ministers for both properties was not less than the respective guide rents.
The guide rent, determined by professional valuers, must be calculated for all state properties available for rent and is the "key mechanism through which SLA ensures that state properties are rented out at fair market value".
The valuers are from SLA’s independent valuation team or valuers appointed by professional third-party managing agents.
In determining the guide rent, the valuers look into various factors, including location, use, floor area, physical condition of the property and prevailing market conditions, and reference is made to rentals of comparable properties.
"For 26 Ridout Road, a professional valuer from SLA determined the guide rent for the site, including the adjacent land to the site," said MinLaw.
"The SLA valuer did not know the identity of the prospective tenant for 26 Ridout Road at the material time, and only learnt that the tenant was Minister Shanmugam after the matter was reported in the media."
It added that it is market practice for rental valuation of such properties to be based primarily on the gross floor area of the property - and the valuation of the rental of 26 Ridout Road followed established market practice.
"The rent per unit floor area for 26 Ridout Road was the third highest, when compared to that of the other nine black-and-white bungalows in the Ridout Road estate which were tenanted out in 2018," said MinLaw.
Mr Shanmugam, in his interview with the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and in parliament, said he initially did not want to lease the adjacent land as there would be legal obligations attached to leasing it.
"However, SLA’s preference was to include the adjacent land within the property boundary of 26 Ridout Road," said MinLaw.
"That would make it clear that the responsibility for maintaining the adjacent land would fall on the tenant, as would the legal obligations," it added.
SLA negotiated an agreement in which the adjacent land would be included within the property boundary, with the tenant responsible for maintaining it.
"For completeness, Minister Shanmugam incurred the cost of maintaining the adjacent land, which would otherwise be borne by SLA."
Mr Jeyaretnam was previously issued a correction direction on Jul 16 over an article on his website about the rental of the bungalows and shared on his Twitter page.
A check by CNA at 12.30am on Thursday showed he had yet to put up a correction notice.
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Mr Jeyaretnam's Facebook and LinkedIn posts on Jul 27 contained untrue statements, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said in a media release on Wednesday (Aug 2).
Under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), he will be required to carry a correction notice on his Facebook and LinkedIn posts, stating that it contains a false statement of fact, and include a link to the government's clarification.
CLARIFICATIONS ON GUIDE RENT
The opposition politician and Reform Party chief alleged in his posts that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) charged Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan rent at below market value for 26 Ridout Road and 31 Ridout Road.
"As established in the review conducted by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, the rental paid by both Ministers were at fair market value and not below market valuation," said MinLaw.
"There was no evidence that the Ministers were given favourable rental rates due to their positions."
The ministry added that the rental paid by the ministers for both properties was not less than the respective guide rents.
The guide rent, determined by professional valuers, must be calculated for all state properties available for rent and is the "key mechanism through which SLA ensures that state properties are rented out at fair market value".
The valuers are from SLA’s independent valuation team or valuers appointed by professional third-party managing agents.
In determining the guide rent, the valuers look into various factors, including location, use, floor area, physical condition of the property and prevailing market conditions, and reference is made to rentals of comparable properties.
"For 26 Ridout Road, a professional valuer from SLA determined the guide rent for the site, including the adjacent land to the site," said MinLaw.
"The SLA valuer did not know the identity of the prospective tenant for 26 Ridout Road at the material time, and only learnt that the tenant was Minister Shanmugam after the matter was reported in the media."
It added that it is market practice for rental valuation of such properties to be based primarily on the gross floor area of the property - and the valuation of the rental of 26 Ridout Road followed established market practice.
"The rent per unit floor area for 26 Ridout Road was the third highest, when compared to that of the other nine black-and-white bungalows in the Ridout Road estate which were tenanted out in 2018," said MinLaw.
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LEASING THE ADJACENT LAND
Mr Shanmugam, in his interview with the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and in parliament, said he initially did not want to lease the adjacent land as there would be legal obligations attached to leasing it.
"However, SLA’s preference was to include the adjacent land within the property boundary of 26 Ridout Road," said MinLaw.
"That would make it clear that the responsibility for maintaining the adjacent land would fall on the tenant, as would the legal obligations," it added.
SLA negotiated an agreement in which the adjacent land would be included within the property boundary, with the tenant responsible for maintaining it.
"For completeness, Minister Shanmugam incurred the cost of maintaining the adjacent land, which would otherwise be borne by SLA."
Mr Jeyaretnam was previously issued a correction direction on Jul 16 over an article on his website about the rental of the bungalows and shared on his Twitter page.
A check by CNA at 12.30am on Thursday showed he had yet to put up a correction notice.
Continue reading...