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Proposed law will allow Govt to acquire specific stratum of underground space

SINGAPORE — A new law that enables the Government to acquire a specific stratum of underground space to develop public projects, instead of having to acquire the entire column of land, was introduced in Parliament today (Feb 12).

Office workers walk underground during lunch time in Singapore's central business district. Bloomberg file photo

Office workers walk underground during lunch time in Singapore's central business district. Bloomberg file photo

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SINGAPORE — A new law that enables the Government to acquire a specific stratum of underground space to develop public projects, instead of having to acquire the entire column of land, was proposed in Parliament today (Feb 12).

The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to amend the existing Land Acquisition Act, will also allow for acquisition of a specific stratum of airspace.

Additionally under the proposed law, landowners whose land rights have been violated due to temporary occupation, acquisition of underground or airspace stratum, or severance, may request for the Government to acquire their land.

The Bill will also seek to streamline and refine the legal framework for temporary occupation of land for public purposes. These amendments will facilitate the Government’s future long-term plans to use and develop underground space “in land-scarce Singapore”, a statement by the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said.

“More extensive use of underground space will benefit Singaporeans as surface land may be used for other purposes, such as park and greenery, homes and offices,” MinLaw said.

Meanwhile, amendments to the State Lands Act were also introduced today under the State Lands (Amendment) Bill. The amendments state that landowners also possess 30m of subterranean land below the Singapore Height Datum (SHD). Land deeper than 30m SHD will belong to the State.

The SHD is a level fixed across the whole of Singapore, from which height measurements take reference. It is pegged to Singapore’s historical mean sea level.

Currently, the law states that any land surface — and the column below it — is for the use and enjoyment of the landower as “reasonably necessary”. But the law does not spell out the specific amount of underground land belonging to the landowner.

The amendments will not affect how landowners use and develop their underground space, and they will still have all the space they need, the MinLaw statement said, as basement developments in Singapore generally only extend to about 15m underground.

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