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May 8 Parliament sitting: High COE prices among questions filed, ministerial statement on 'meeting transport needs of S'poreans'

SINGAPORE — Transport matters are likely to dominate the next parliamentary sitting on Monday (May 8), with several Members of Parliament (MPs) filing questions about high Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices, while Transport Minister S Iswaran is set to deliver a ministerial statement on transport.

Based on the parliamentary order paper released on Friday, out of the 121 questions filed for written and oral responses, seven are related to high COE prices.

Based on the parliamentary order paper released on Friday, out of the 121 questions filed for written and oral responses, seven are related to high COE prices.

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  • Transport matters are likely to dominate the parliamentary sitting next Monday, based on the parliamentary order paper released on Friday
  • Several Members of Parliament have filed parliamentary questions relating to the high Certificate of Entitlement prices
  • Transport Minister S Iswaran will also deliver a ministerial statement on meeting the transport needs of Singaporeans
  • Other parliamentary questions filed relate to the salaries of social service sector workers and the role of People's Association in explaining government policies to the people
  • There is an adjournment motion on making Parliament a fairer arena, filed by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Leong Mun Wai from the Progress Singapore Party

SINGAPORE — Transport matters are likely to dominate the next parliamentary sitting on Monday (May 8), with several Members of Parliament (MPs) filing questions about high Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices, while Transport Minister S Iswaran is set to deliver a ministerial statement on transport.

Based on the parliamentary order paper released on Friday, out of the 121 questions filed for written and oral responses, seven are related to high COE prices.

These questions from MPs come as COE premiums hit record levels. 

In the latest bidding exercise on Thursday, COE premiums for the open category, which can be used for all cars, closed at S$124,002.

These prices come as a result of high demand for COEs alongside the Government's policy to keep supply steady by maintaining zero annual growth of the vehicle population.

Among the MPs who have asked questions related to the issue is Ms Mariam Jaafar from Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) who wants to know whether the Government will consider more decisive measures to prevent private hire companies from dominating and driving up COE prices.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak, also from Sembawang GRC, is asking if the rising COE prices are triggered by extraneous factors such as an influx of foreign residents in Singapore.

Mr Iswaran is set to deliver a ministerial statement on "meeting the transport needs of Singaporeans" next Monday.

While there are no details on what his ministerial statement will cover, his speech comes after it was announced last week that a new fare formula to calculate bus and train fares will be implemented later this year.

ROLE OF PA AND CLEARING OF A FRIDGE

Other questions filed by MPs for Monday revolve around issues related the salaries of social service sector workers and the role of People's Association (PA) in explaining government policies to people.  

Mr Yip Hon Weng of Yio Chu Kang Single Member Constituency has asked Minister for Social and Family Development, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, if the realignment of roles and salaries in the social service sector will result in a pay cut for some workers.

In March this year, the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the National Council of Social Service announced a revision of the salary guidelines for the sector across all professions and job levels.

This is the first time since 2018 that the ministry and agency have reviewed the sector’s salary guidelines, with the review based on wages of comparable job roles in competing labour markets.

Meanwhile, Workers’ Party MPs have filed parliamentary questions relating to the role of the PA.

Mr Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC) has asked Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Edwin Tong, on the legislative provision that mandates the role of the PA in explaining government policies to the people and what proportion of its budget is devoted to this function.

Another WP MP, Ms He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) is asking Mr Tong about the standards that are applied to decide if an activity held in PA’s controlled events or venues are being used for partisan purposes by any political party.

Dr Tan Wu Meng, MP for Jurong GRC, has also asked Minister for National Development Desmond Lee on the timeline and potential learning points after an abandoned refrigerator in a forest was reported to authorities a year ago but only cleared recently.  

TODAY had reported last week on how the authorities had delayed clearing a discarded fridge in Clementi Forest for a year after it was reported by a Russian hiker on the OneService mobile application last March.

There will also be an adjournment motion on making Parliament a fairer arena, filed by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament, Mr Leong Mun Wai, who is from the Progress Singapore Party.

When Parliament reopened last month, Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin reminded Members about the importance of maintaining respectful behaviour in the House, following an incident with Mr Leong in March. 

During a heated exchange in Parliament between Mr Leong and Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, Mr Tan had stepped in to seek clarification on whether Mr Leong was withdrawing an allegation that he had made about former executives of Keppel Offshore & Marine.

To this, Mr Leong responded: "Speaker, if the minister didn't ask me, I suggest you do not ask."

Mr Leong later apologised for his remarks. 

Related topics

transport Parliament COE bidding

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