Service of documents
Open ↗45.—(1) A notice or other document required or authorised by this Act to be served on any person may be served —(a)
in the case of an individual —(i)
by delivering it to the individual personally;
(ii)
by leaving it with an adult person apparently resident at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post to, the usual or last known address of the individual’s place of residence;
(iii)
by leaving it with an adult person apparently employed at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post to, the usual or last known address of the individual’s place of business;
(iv)
by sending it by fax to the usual or last known address of the individual’s place of residence or business; or
(v)
by affixing a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place at the usual or last known address of residence or business of the individual;
(b)
in the case of a partnership other than a limited liability partnership —(i)
by delivering it to any one of the partners or the secretary or other like officer of the partnership; or
(ii)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post or fax to, the principal or last known place of business of the partnership in Singapore;
(c)
in the case of a body corporate that is a management corporation or subsidiary management corporation for a strata title plan —(i)
by delivering it to the chairperson, secretary or other member of the council of the management corporation or the executive committee of the subsidiary management corporation, as the case may be; or
(ii)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post or fax to, the address of the management corporation or subsidiary management corporation, as recorded on the folio of the land-register comprising the strata title plan; or
(d)
in the case of any limited liability partnership or any other body corporate —(i)
by delivering it to the secretary or other like officer of the body corporate or, in the case of a limited liability partnership, the manager thereof; or
(ii)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post or fax to, the registered office or principal office of the limited liability partnership or body corporate in Singapore.[19/2007]
(2) If the Collector is unable after due inquiry to ascertain the whereabouts of any person on whom a notice or other document is required by this Act to be served, the notice or document may be given or served —(a)
by placing it on a board or other structure in a conspicuous place on the land to which the notice relates and by fixing a copy of the same notice or document in a conspicuous place in the office of the Collector; or
(b)
by publishing a copy of it in one or more daily local newspapers circulating in Singapore.[19/2007]
(3) Where any notice or other document is —(a)
sent by fax in accordance with subsection (1) — it is deemed to have been duly served on the person to whom it is addressed when there is an acknowledgment by electronic or other means to the effect that the notice or document has been received at the place of residence or business or registered office or principal office, as the case may be;
(b)
sent by prepaid registered post — it is deemed to have been duly served on the person to whom it is addressed 2 days after the day the notice or document was posted, unless it is returned undelivered; or
(c)
served by publishing a copy of it in one or more daily local newspapers circulating in Singapore — it is deemed to have been duly served on the person to whom it is addressed on the day of the last publication.[19/2007]
(4) This section does not apply to notices and documents required to be served in proceedings in court.[19/2007]
Penalty for obstructing survey, etc., or destroying landmarks
Open ↗46.—(1) Any person who —(a)
obstructs any officer, or any duly authorised person, in the performance of anything which the officer or person is by section 3 or 7 required or empowered to do; or
(b)
wilfully, without reasonable excuse, fills up, removes, damages, destroys, displaces, obliterates or defaces any trench or mark made under section 3,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both.
[19/2007]
(2) A court that finds a person guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(b) may, in addition to any penalty it imposes, order the person to pay compensation, totalling not more than 3 times the cost of replacing and repairing the trench or mark and of making any survey rendered necessary by the act for which the person was convicted.[19/2007]
(3) The amount mentioned in subsection (1) is to be levied in the manner provided by the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 for the collection of fines.[19/2007]
Police to enforce surrender
Open ↗47. If the Collector is opposed or impeded in taking possession under this Act of any land, he or she may apply to the Commissioner of Police who shall enforce the surrender of the land to the Collector.
Government not bound to complete acquisition
Open ↗48.—(1) Except in the case provided for in sections 49 and 49A, the Government is at liberty to withdraw from the acquisition of any land or any part thereof of which possession has not been taken.[12/2015]
(2) Whenever the Government withdraws from any such acquisition, the Collector must determine the amount of compensation due for the damage (if any) done to the land under section 3 or 7 and not already paid for under section 4, and must pay that amount to the person injured and must pay to the persons interested all such costs as have been reasonably incurred by them by reason or in consequence of the proceedings for acquisition, together with compensation for the damage (if any) which they may have sustained by reason or in consequence of those proceedings.
(3) The provisions of Part 3 apply, so far as may be, to the determination of the compensation payable under this section.
(4) When the Government has withdrawn from any acquisition, any costs payable by the Government to any person interested under subsection (2) must, unless their amount is agreed between the Government and the person interested, be taxed by the Registrar of the Supreme Court in accordance with a procedure to be prescribed by Rules of Court for the time being in force.
Owners who suffer substantial impairment in rights in land may require their land to be acquired
Open ↗49.—(1) The owner of any temporarily occupied land, any remaining surface land or any severed land may, by written notice given to the Collector, request the Government to acquire under this Act —(a)
the temporarily occupied land, the remaining surface land or the severed land (as the case may be); and
(b)
any other land of the owner related to the temporarily occupied land or the remaining surface land in paragraph (a),
if the owner considers that the owner suffers substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in the lands in paragraphs (a) and (b) because of —
(c)
the temporary possession in accordance with a direction under section 42 of the temporarily occupied land;
(d)
the acquisition under this Act of the airspace above or the subterranean space below the remaining surface land; or
(e)
the severance arising from the acquisition under this Act of any other part of the owner’s land.[12/2015]
(2) If there is more than one owner of the land concerned, the notice under this section must be given by all the owners.[12/2015]
(3) Any notice under this section is irrevocable once given to the Collector.[12/2015]
(4) For the purposes of this section and section 49A —(a)
land is related to any temporarily occupied land if that land is the remainder of a parcel of land part of which is the temporarily occupied land; and
(b)
land is related to any remaining surface land if that land —(i)
is the remainder of a parcel of land part of which is the remaining surface land; and
(ii)
is above or below the airspace or subterranean space acquired and the remaining surface land.[12/2015]
(5) In this section and section 49A —“owner”, in relation to any land, means —(a)
a person who has the fee simple estate in the land;
(b)
a person who is the grantee or lessee under a State title for the land;
(c)
a person who has become entitled to exercise a power of sale of the land; or
(d)
a person in occupation of the land under a tenancy the term of which exceeds 7 years;
“parcel of land” means the whole area of land that —(a)
is the subject of a separate certificate of title registered under the Land Titles Act 1993; or
(b)
is a lot in a lawful division of land and capable of being separately held by any owner,
and where a single building is erected on 2 or more such adjoining lands or lots referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), includes the area comprised in those lands or lots, as the case may be.
[12/2015]
Owner-initiated acquisition
Open ↗49A.—(1) Upon receiving a notice under section 49(1) in relation to any temporarily occupied land, any remaining surface land or any severed land (as the case may be), and any other land related to the temporarily occupied land or the remaining surface land, the Collector is to assess whether the owner of those lands suffers or does not suffer substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in those lands because of —(a)
the temporary possession in accordance with a direction under section 42 of the temporarily occupied land;
(b)
the acquisition under this Act of the airspace above or the subterranean space below the remaining surface land; or
(c)
the severance arising from the acquisition under this Act of any other part of the owner’s land.[12/2015]
(2) The President is to proceed under this Act to acquire the land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1) as if the land was needed for a public purpose, if the Collector assesses that the owner of the land giving notice suffers substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in the land because of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c).[12/2015]
(3) If there is more than one owner of the land concerned giving notice, it is sufficient if the Collector assesses that any one of those owners suffers substantial impairment of that owner’s rights in the land because of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c).[12/2015]
(4) A fresh notification or other proceedings under section 5, 6 or 8 (as the case may be) is necessary for the acquisition of the land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1) and in respect of which subsection (5) does not apply.[12/2015]
(5) However, the President is not to proceed under this section to acquire any land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1) if —(a)
the notice is not given to the Collector within the claim period applicable to that land; or
(b)
the notice is given to the Collector —(i)
for a notice that concerns remaining surface land — after the Collector has made an award under section 10 for the acquisition under this Act of the airspace above or the subterranean space below the remaining surface land; or
(ii)
for a notice that concerns severed land — after the Collector has made an award under section 10 for the acquisition under this Act of the other part of the owner’s land so severed.[12/2015]
(6) An owner of any land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1), may within the prescribed time appeal to the General Division of the High Court against the Collector’s assessment under subsection (2) or (3) as to —(a)
whether any person giving the notice under section 49(1) in relation to any land is an owner of the land; or
(b)
whether the owner of the land suffers or does not suffer substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in the land because of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1).[12/2015; 40/2019]
(7) To avoid doubt, the Collector is not prevented from taking possession of the land under this Act by reason only that an appeal to the General Division of the High Court under subsection (6) in relation to the land is not determined.[12/2015; 40/2019]
(8) For the purposes of this section, an owner of land suffers substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in the land if, and only if, the owner of the land or, if the owner is not in occupation of the land, any lawful occupier of the land —(a)
is unable, for a period of one year or longer, to use the land, and any land related thereto, according to —(i)
the zoning and density requirements and other restrictions imposed by or under the Planning Act 1998; and
(ii)
any other restrictive covenants in the State title for the land and the land related thereto (if any); and
(b)
is displaced from the land and any land related thereto for a period of one year or longer,
solely by reason of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c).
[12/2015]
(9) In this section —“claim period” means —(a)
for any temporarily occupied land and land related to that temporarily occupied land — one year starting from either of the following dates:(i)
the date of the last notice under section 42(3) relating to the temporarily occupied land;
(ii)
the date of the expiry of the last term of temporary occupation determined under section 42(1) for the temporary occupation and use of the temporarily occupied land, or the date the land is returned to the owner if earlier;
(b)
for any land above which only the airspace, or any land below which only the subterranean space, is or has been acquired under section 5 (called the remaining surface land) and land related to that remaining surface land — one year starting from the date of acquisition for that airspace or subterranean space, as the case may be; and
(c)
for any land remaining after any other part of the owner’s land is severed because of an acquisition under this Act — one year starting from the date of acquisition for that other land so acquired;
“date of acquisition”, for any land, airspace or subterranean space acquired under this Act, means the date of the publication of the notification under section 5(1) declaring that the land, airspace or subterranean space is needed for the purpose specified in that declaration;
“displace”, in relation to a person in occupation of any land, means being compelled to relocate the person’s principal place of residence or business on that land as a result of —(a)
the taking of temporary possession of that land;
(b)
the acquisition under this Act of airspace above, or subterranean space below, that land; or
(c)
any severance;
“severance” means severing of land acquired under this Act from other land;
“temporary possession”, in relation to land, means temporary possession of the land taken in accordance with a direction under section 42.[12/2015]
Acquisition of whole or any additional portion of land where compensation for severance is payable
Open ↗50.—(1) If any claim for compensation is made to a Collector holding an inquiry under section 10 by a person interested or the person’s agent as provided by sections 15 and 33(1)(c), on account of the severing of the land to be acquired from the person’s other land, or if, even though no such claim has been made, a Collector holding such an inquiry has certified under his or her hand that compensation as aforesaid is payable upon the acquisition, it is lawful for the President at any time before the Collector has made his or her award, to order the acquisition of the whole or any additional portion of the land of which the land first sought to be acquired forms a part.
(2) No fresh notification or other proceedings under sections 5, 6 and 8 are necessary; but the Collector must without delay furnish a copy of the order of the President to the person interested and must thereafter proceed to make his or her award under section 10 as if the whole or any additional portion of the land specified in the order of the President were the subject of the initial notification under section 5.[12/2015]
Defraying of costs
Open ↗51. Where land is acquired for any person, corporation or statutory board, the costs incurred by the Collector in the acquisition must be defrayed by that person, corporation or statutory board.
Suits to set aside awards under this Act to be barred
Open ↗53. No suit shall be brought to set aside an award or apportionment under this Act.
Rules
Open ↗54.—(1) The Minister may make rules generally for carrying out the provisions of this Act, and without prejudice to that general power, may make rules for the guidance of officers in all matters connected with this Act.
(2) All such rules must be published in the Gazette and must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
