Majority of Pearls Centre owners, tenants accept government compensation

Majority of Pearls Centre owners, tenants accept government compensation

    By Olivia Siong
    POSTED: 25 Apr 2013 5:35 PM
    UPDATED: 25 Apr 2013 11:30 PM
  
The majority of owners and tenants at Pearls Centre have accepted the government's compensation for the acquisition of the building. Authorities are taking possession of the centre to make way for the upcoming Thomson MRT line.

SINGAPORE: Nearly all owners and tenants at Pearls Centre have accepted the government's compensation for the acquisition of the building.

The deadlines for acceptance of the offers ended on Wednesday.

Authorities are taking possession of the centre to make way for the upcoming Thomson MRT line.

The government had earlier announced a S$450-million compensation package for the acquisition.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said all but two of 243 owners have accepted the offers, which comprises statutory compensation and an ex-gratia payment.

The two owners will be given an extension.

Member of Parliament for Tanjor Pagar GRC Indranee Rajah said one of them will be given till April 30, as the owner was away when the offer was made.

This is to allow her the same period as other owners to accept the offer.

The second owner who has not accepted the offers will be allowed time to get the relevant legal documents.

This is for her to accept the offer on behalf of her husband, who has passed away and was the owner of the unit.

As for the tenants, only one out of 175 eligible tenants has yet to respond. SLA said it will be prepared to grant an extension if the tenant has a valid reason.

Ms Indranee said more assistance will be given if the need arises, to ensure a smooth transition.

Owners and eligible tenants had the legal right to file appeals with 14 days from the date of the Collector's Award on 27 March 2013, if they were dissatisfied with the statutory compensation offered.

SLA said two appeals were filed but were subsequently withdrawn on 24 April 2013.

The units at Pearls Centre will be handed over to the state in August 2014.

Ms Indranee said: “There will be other issues along the way, for example some may need to, or may want to stay at their premises after the handover date on August 2014, until their new residences or new shops are ready. For that, as SLA had indicated before, (there will be) a years’ free stay, after that there will be progressive charging of rental. Some may need it, some may not, but it is things like that where if one can assist, and make sure the transition is smooth, then those things will be done.

“Some have looked for premises on their own and in fact, one of them had already found one and moved out a few months back. Some have come to me for appeals for HDB commercial properties, some are still in the process of deciding where they want to go, but obviously if they need assistance, I would be happy to do so."

Lo Hock Ling, chairman of the Pearls Centre management committee, said: "I haven't come across anyone who said they're not satisfied, so in other words we can conclude, almost everyone feel that they're satisfied. We will continue to run the centre as usual, until we hand the property to the SLA. Maybe the SLA might continue to run it for a while, I think that is left to the SLA."

- CNA/xq

- wong chee tat :)