Empowering HDB and Town Council Officers to Issue Mediation Orders and Provide Admissible Statements in Areas Where Community Relations Unit Do Not Operate

80 Mr Shawn Loh asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB and Town Council officers can be empowered to issue mediation orders and provide statements that are admissible to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal in areas where the Community Relations Unit does not operate.

Mr Chee Hong Tat: The Minister-in-charge of the Community Relations Unit has the power to appoint public officers and employees of statutory bodies to issue mediation directions (MDs). These include Housing and Development Board (HDB) officers and Town Council officers. We are piloting the Directed Mediation framework in Tampines and HDB officers and officers from the Community Relations Unit are authorised to issue MDs for neighbour noise disputes. We will expand the MD framework to more towns. Given the nature of MDs and that non-compliance can result in a fine of up to $1,500, non-public officers have not been appointed to issue MDs.

The Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT) may consider any information that is relevant to the resolution of a CDRT claim. In this regard, the CDRT can ask a HDB or Town Council officer to provide information for the purposes of its proceedings.