Parliamentary Q&A for 8 & 9 March 2017 Sitting

PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL FOR MINORITY RIGHTS’ (PCMR) ASSENT TO BILLS

Leon Perera asked over the past two terms of Parliament, about the times the PCMR suggested changes to, or withheld assent to, a Bill passed in Parliament.

Chan Chun Sing replied that over the past two terms of Parliament, no legislation passed by Parliament has received an adverse report by the PCMR.

Read the full exchange here.

 

SETTING UP OF DRONE PORT

Leon Perera asked the Minister for Transport whether the Ministry will consider setting up a drone port to accommodate the rising transport of goods via drones.

Khaw Boon Wan replied that On the use of drones to transport goods within Singapore, the technology is not yet mature for safe, widespread deployment in a densely populated, urban environment. We have been facilitating trials to better understand the technologies, and the implementation and safety issues.

Read the full exchange here.

 

VIDEO-CONFERENCING FACILITIES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF MAINTENANCE ORDERS APPLICATIONS

Leon Perera asked about applications for the enforcement of maintenance orders made using video-conferencing facilities at the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations and the Tampines Family Service Centre.

Tan Chuan Jin said that during this period, 23 to 26 such applications were made at those centres and at HELP FSC, one of the Divorce Support Specialist Agencies.

Read the full exchange here.

 

SINGAPORE AND OECD’S ELECTRICITY TARIFFS

Leon Perera asked about the price difference between Singapore’s regulated electricity tariff and that of OECD countries which use gas as the main fuel for power generation.

S Iswaran said that compared to a handful of OECD countries that rely on natural gas as their main fuel source for power generation, our regulated electricity tariffs were on average about 1% higher over the period from 2011 to 2015. Compared with Ireland, Turkey and Japan, which rely mainly on imported natural gas, similar to Singapore, our regulated electricity tariffs were on average 13% lower over this period.

Read the full exchange here.

 

CHILDREN WHO START PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION WITHOUT ATTENDING PRE-SCHOOL

Leon Perera asked about the number of children who have started their primary school education without having previously attended kindergarten.

Ng Chee Meng replied that from 2011 to 2016, 99% of each primary one cohort have attended at least one year of pre-school.

Read the full exchange here.