Power to enter upon public land for purposes of district cooling system
Open ↗24.—(1) For the purpose of providing any district cooling service to a service area, a licensee or any person authorised by the licensee may —(a)
at any reasonable time, enter upon any public land within the service area;
(b)
subject to the approval of the relevant public authority, erect in or upon the public land such part of the district cooling system or excavate such trenches as may be necessary or proper for the purposes of providing the district cooling service;
(c)
carry out all necessary works in connection therewith; and
(d)
in the course thereof, fell or lop trees, remove vegetation and do all other things necessary for that purpose.
(2) Where any work mentioned in subsection (1) interferes with any building, growing tree or crop, the licensee must pay compensation to any person interested for any damage or financial loss that may be caused thereby.
(3) Where the public land is occupied under a licence for temporary occupation, the compensation must be paid to the occupant under the licence.
Power to enter upon other land for purposes of examination of district cooling system
Open ↗25.—(1) Subject to this section, where it is necessary to do so for the purposes of providing district cooling services to any service area, a licensee or any person authorised by the licensee may —(a)
at any reasonable time enter upon any land within the service area, other than public land, and may survey and take levels and do all other necessary acts preparatory to the provision of the service; and
(b)
lay, place or carry on, and erect in or upon any land within the service area, other than public land, such part of the district cooling system as may be necessary or proper for such purposes and may take such other action as may be necessary to render such part of the district cooling system safe and efficient,
paying compensation to any person interested for any damage or financial loss that may be caused thereby.
(2) Any compensation payable under subsection (1) may include an annual payment for land or other immovable property used for the purpose of the district cooling system.
(3) A licensee does not acquire any right other than that of a user only in respect of any land or property under, over, along, across, in or upon which the licensee places any part of a district cooling system under this section.
(4) A licensee is, in the exercise of its powers under this section, subject to the provisions of the Parks and Trees Act 2005.
(5) Before entering upon any land for any of the purposes specified in subsection (1), a licensee must give at least 14 days’ notice stating as fully and as accurately as possible the nature and extent of the acts intended to be done.
(6) The owner or occupier of the land may, within 14 days of the receipt of the notice mentioned in subsection (5), lodge a written objection with the Authority and the Authority must specify a date to inquire into such objection.
(7) If no objection is lodged within the time specified in subsection (5), the licensee may forthwith enter upon the land and do all or any of the acts specified in the notice given under that subsection.
(8) If an objection is lodged and is not withdrawn before the date fixed for the hearing thereof, the Authority must hold an inquiry, giving each party an opportunity to be heard.
(9) Subject to subsection (10), upon the conclusion of the inquiry, the Authority may authorise, either unconditionally or subject to any terms, conditions and stipulations that it thinks fit, any of the acts mentioned in the notice given under subsection (5) to be carried out.
(10) Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Authority under this section may, within 14 days of the conclusion of the inquiry, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.
Savings of wayleave agreement
Open ↗26. Nothing in section 25 —(a)
affects the right of a licensee to enter into an agreement, commonly known as a wayleave agreement, with the owner or occupier of any land for the purpose of laying, placing, carrying or erecting any part of a district cooling system on the land;
(b)
affects any such wayleave agreement subsisting immediately before 1 April 2001; or
(c)
affects the right of a licensee to negotiate the use of land or facilities belonging to the State or any other person.
Inspection, maintenance and repair of district cooling system
Open ↗27.—(1) Where it is necessary to do so for the purpose of inspecting, maintaining or repairing any part of a district cooling system or for the purpose of carrying out any function conferred on a licensee under this Act or under any licence granted under section 10, a licensee or any person authorised by the licensee may, after giving 7 days’ prior notice to the owner or occupier of any land —(a)
at any reasonable time, enter upon any land or building within the service area, whether or not that part of the district cooling system has been laid, placed, carried or erected on, under, upon or over the land or building;
(b)
carry out all necessary inspection, maintenance or repair; and
(c)
in the course thereof, fell or lop trees, remove vegetation and do all other things necessary for the purpose,
causing as little damage as possible and paying compensation to any person adversely affected for any damage that may be caused thereby.
(2) Where work is required to be carried out in the event of an operational emergency arising from any fault in a district cooling system, pipe or plant, no prior notice is required to be given to the owner or occupier of any land under subsection (1).
Removal or alteration of district cooling system
Open ↗28.—(1) Where any part of a district cooling system has been laid, placed, carried or erected on, under, upon or over any land, and any owner of the land desires to use the land in such manner as to render it necessary or convenient that that part of the district cooling system should be removed to another part of the land, or to a higher or lower level, or altered in form, the owner of the land may require the licensee to remove or alter that part of the district cooling system accordingly.
(2) If the licensee fails to comply with the requisition, the owner of the land may apply in writing to the Authority and the Authority must, as soon as practicable, specify a date to inquire into the facts of the case.
(3) Upon the conclusion of the inquiry, the Authority may require, subject to any terms, conditions and stipulations that it thinks fit, the removal or alteration of such part of the district cooling system.
(4) Where any owner of any land desires to use the land for the purposes of development and the owner considers it necessary that any part of a district cooling system that has been laid, placed, carried or erected on the land should be removed from the land, the owner may request the licensee to remove that part from the land.
(5) Where the licensee undertakes the work of removal pursuant to the owner’s request under subsection (4), the owner is liable to pay reasonable compensation to the licensee.
(6) If the licensee does not intend to undertake the work of removal pursuant to the owner’s request under subsection (4), the licensee must, by written notice, inform the owner and the Authority of its intention and the Authority must specify a date not less than 14 days from the date of the notice to inquire into the facts of the case, and the decision of the Authority is binding on the licensee and the owner.
(7) Where any part of a district cooling system has been laid, placed, carried or erected on, under, upon or over any land and that part of the district cooling system is no longer in use for district cooling purposes, the licensee may, on its own volition, or must, at the request of the owner of that land, remove that part of the district cooling system from that land within a reasonable time at its own cost and expense and compensate the owner for any damage done in the process of removing that part of the district cooling system.
(8) Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Authority under this section may, within 14 days of the decision, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.
(9) This section does not apply where a contrary intention has been expressed by the owner of the land and the licensee by agreement.
(10) In this section, “owner” includes any person having a leasehold interest with an unexpired term of not less than 7 years.
Provision of space or facility by developer or owner of building
Open ↗29. Any developer or owner of a building who requires any district cooling services from a licensee must provide at the developer’s or owner’s expense such space and facility within or on the building and such access thereto as may be necessary for the operation of the district cooling system.
Apparatus not fixture and not subject to distress
Open ↗30. Any apparatus owned or let for hire or lent to a consumer by a licensee and which has been affixed or fastened to any part of the consumer’s premises —(a)
continues to remain the property of that licensee and is deemed not to be a fixture, and does not vest in the owner of the premises; and
(b)
shall not be subject to distress or be liable to be taken under or pursuant to an enforcement order of any court or any proceedings in bankruptcy or winding up proceedings against the party in whose possession it is.[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
Power to discontinue provision of district cooling services in emergency
Open ↗31.—(1) Where a licensee is of the opinion that immediate action is necessary on the occurrence of any emergency, in the interests of public safety or in order to avoid undue interference with the efficient provision of district cooling services to other consumers or for any other reasons affecting the public interest, the licensee may forthwith discontinue the provision of district cooling services to any consumer.
(2) The licensee must immediately after the discontinuance give written notice of the discontinuance to the Authority and the affected consumer, and must restore district cooling services to that consumer as soon as is reasonably practicable.
(3) A licensee shall not be liable for any loss or damage caused to any person resulting from such discontinuance in the provision of district cooling services.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
