ST : HDB not distracted from core mission: Mah

Jul 20, 2010

parliament

HDB not distracted from core mission: Mah

THE House yesterday passed a law to allow the Housing Board (HDB) to play a consultancy role here and overseas, as a goodwill gesture to foreign governments which have sought its expertise.

However, that will not detract from the Board's main mission to provide good and affordable public housing to Singaporeans, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said.

Responding to the reservations of two MPs, Mr Mah stressed that the HDB was not over-extending itself. For one, its staff would continue to be assessed on 'how they can build up a more vibrant community (and) continue to provide more affordable housing'.

'That is their key performance indicator,' he said, debunking the notion that they would be assessed instead on 'how much money they make for local SMEs'.

The worries about the HDB being distracted from its core mission and inadvertently squeezing out smaller home-grown developers were flagged by Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) and Madam Cynthia Phua (Aljunied GRC). They spoke in the debate on the amendment to the Housing and Development Bill.

In explanation, Mr Mah said the HDB had been asked by foreign governments to share its expertise in home ownership and financing policies.

The board had no intention of getting involved in town planning overseas. That, he said, was the job of Surbana Corporation, a subsidiary of investment company Temasek Holdings and an offshoot of the HDB.

He did not see overseas consultancy projects as a 'money spinner' for the board, but rather as 'creating a reservoir of goodwill with other governments'. That was the principle behind the HDB's involvement in the Tianjin eco-city project, a collaboration between the Singapore and Chinese governments.

The HDB also plans to work with Singapore companies on home turf, in technical areas like green buildings, solar panels and lifts.

Here, its mandate is 'not to become a company or compete with local companies', but to share its expertise with small firms to help them export their services, he said.