SLA lassitude costs SG gahmen $1,362,664 in 8 mths rental revenues lost, eateries disrupted and public safety risk nightmare.
The lazy folks @SLA should have their bonuses CUT.
Full report 'Tenants upset over Evans Rd shambles' as appended below.
As I understand, it is standard practise for all landlords to collect 1 month rent as deposit for each year in rental contract signed: e.g. for a 3 yr rental contract, 3 mths deposit is payable, 10mths for 10yrs and so forth.
'the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) terminated its tenancy agreement with master tenant Winsta Holding on July 31': the day of termination should have been THE SAME DAY that the plot was put up for re-tender, but no, the retender was delayed till Nov30th, a cool 4 months of nothing done, rent collections wasted. Now SLA is saying that the new tenancy will start on Aprils fools day (1st April) 2016, very funny SLA, that is another 4mths proper rent forgone between 1st Dec 2015 and 1st April 2016. I believe that if the SLA (and other gahmen depts) had its finger on the pulse of what was happening @ Evans Rd, " several employees were involved in 'undisclosed interested party transactions'", it would have been more prepared with the re-tender process rather than delaying the process by an additional 4 months.
'The SLA put the plot up for re-tender on Nov 30, for an initial term of three years, renewable up till 2021. The new tenancy agreement will start on April 1': I believe that it should only take @ most 3mths for the new 3yr tenancy agreement to begin. If SLA had not dropped the ball, the property should have remained in a reasonably well maintained state that is well usable by new master tenants without significant renovations. For larger properties, perhaps tenancies should be signed for periods of 5yrs: such would allow for more latency in the re-tender process to be covered by a higher tenancy deposit collected.
If the SLA termination of the tenancy agreement with Winsta Holdings was for wholly legitimate reasons, then I believe that SLA has the right to sue for any rent in arrears up to the point of rental contract termination. No sub-tenant should have the right to continue business @ the Evans Rd property once the main-tenancy agreement is terminated except by the good will of the SLA: if as such, then SLA should be the collector of all such rents as well as continue to maintain the location to a decent state.
What we are now witnessing seems to be the dereliction of responsibilities by the SLA: the consequence being the loss of rightful revenue to gahmen coffers, business disruptions to existing sub-tenants, a public safety hazard of people tripping and breaking bones over broken/ makeshift drain covers and the spread of disease by stagnant water in drains and dirty toilets.
For endangering public health, safety and the sufficiency of gahment revenue, SLA officers are given a handsome bonus for the good work done.
I hope LKY gets up from the grave as promised.
@ SG50, SLA seems to be looking forward to the next 50yrs sleeping on the job.
This essay is written in the spirit of postponing any need to raise GST (which the gahmen previously suggested it would raised to 10% in 2016).
PS: According to 'Evans Road site to get $3m facelift' ST 06 Dec 2012, the site is actually 14,508 sq m (not 8,957 sq m site as in below version of report (as ?deceptively adjusted) by 154th media) and Winsta won the tender with a bid of "$171,899 monthly rent, more than double the Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) guide rent of $77,000. ":
Just using the next highest bid: ("next highest bid was Central Warehouse Service's $170,333 a month") to calculate the loss of rental collected due to SLA lassitude of superfluous 8mths re-tender process = 8 * S$170,333k = $1,362,664.
Increase in GST (2016): is to pay SLA CEO more bonuses for his 'good work' of dropping the ball...
BTW, when CEOs earn more due to 'undisclosed interested party transactions', Ministars get a proportionate raise, according to the following guy earns more by parroting what his ministar says...:
The lazy folks @SLA should have their bonuses CUT.
Full report 'Tenants upset over Evans Rd shambles' as appended below.
As I understand, it is standard practise for all landlords to collect 1 month rent as deposit for each year in rental contract signed: e.g. for a 3 yr rental contract, 3 mths deposit is payable, 10mths for 10yrs and so forth.
'the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) terminated its tenancy agreement with master tenant Winsta Holding on July 31': the day of termination should have been THE SAME DAY that the plot was put up for re-tender, but no, the retender was delayed till Nov30th, a cool 4 months of nothing done, rent collections wasted. Now SLA is saying that the new tenancy will start on Aprils fools day (1st April) 2016, very funny SLA, that is another 4mths proper rent forgone between 1st Dec 2015 and 1st April 2016. I believe that if the SLA (and other gahmen depts) had its finger on the pulse of what was happening @ Evans Rd, " several employees were involved in 'undisclosed interested party transactions'", it would have been more prepared with the re-tender process rather than delaying the process by an additional 4 months.
'The SLA put the plot up for re-tender on Nov 30, for an initial term of three years, renewable up till 2021. The new tenancy agreement will start on April 1': I believe that it should only take @ most 3mths for the new 3yr tenancy agreement to begin. If SLA had not dropped the ball, the property should have remained in a reasonably well maintained state that is well usable by new master tenants without significant renovations. For larger properties, perhaps tenancies should be signed for periods of 5yrs: such would allow for more latency in the re-tender process to be covered by a higher tenancy deposit collected.
If the SLA termination of the tenancy agreement with Winsta Holdings was for wholly legitimate reasons, then I believe that SLA has the right to sue for any rent in arrears up to the point of rental contract termination. No sub-tenant should have the right to continue business @ the Evans Rd property once the main-tenancy agreement is terminated except by the good will of the SLA: if as such, then SLA should be the collector of all such rents as well as continue to maintain the location to a decent state.
What we are now witnessing seems to be the dereliction of responsibilities by the SLA: the consequence being the loss of rightful revenue to gahmen coffers, business disruptions to existing sub-tenants, a public safety hazard of people tripping and breaking bones over broken/ makeshift drain covers and the spread of disease by stagnant water in drains and dirty toilets.
For endangering public health, safety and the sufficiency of gahment revenue, SLA officers are given a handsome bonus for the good work done.
I hope LKY gets up from the grave as promised.
@ SG50, SLA seems to be looking forward to the next 50yrs sleeping on the job.
This essay is written in the spirit of postponing any need to raise GST (which the gahmen previously suggested it would raised to 10% in 2016).
PS: According to 'Evans Road site to get $3m facelift' ST 06 Dec 2012, the site is actually 14,508 sq m (not 8,957 sq m site as in below version of report (as ?deceptively adjusted) by 154th media) and Winsta won the tender with a bid of "$171,899 monthly rent, more than double the Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) guide rent of $77,000. ":
Just using the next highest bid: ("next highest bid was Central Warehouse Service's $170,333 a month") to calculate the loss of rental collected due to SLA lassitude of superfluous 8mths re-tender process = 8 * S$170,333k = $1,362,664.
Tenants upset over Evans Rd shambles
PUBLISHED; DEC 6, 2015, 5:00 AM SGT
They complain about damaged drain covers, broken lighting and filthy toilets at hang-out
Jessica Lim: Consumer Correspondent
Several tenants of a hang-out spot at Evans Road are unhappy that the place has lapsed into a state of dilapidation.
At least one eatery, The Wine Company, has already moved out of the spot near the Bukit Timah campus of the National University of Singapore.
The trouble seems to have started after the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) terminated its tenancy agreement with master tenant Winsta Holding on July 31 as it was unable to settle its arrears for the 8,957 sq m site at 26, Evans Road.
Winsta Holding made headlines when it was put into voluntary liquidation in August after an internal audit found that several employees were involved in "undisclosed interested party transactions".
Tenants said that since then, they have had to contend with issues like broken drain covers, broken lighting and filthy toilets.
The carpark gantry there has also been broken for months, attracting non-customers who park there for free.
Owner of coffee joint Assembly Coffee, Ms Daphne Goh, 24, has made plans to relocate to Duke's Road, but will consider keeping its Evan Roads outlet if conditions improve and the rent does not go up.
"It's very dead here now," she said, adding that business has fallen by 20 per cent since August. "This place isn't that accessible, so customers come all the way here and are greeted by clogged-up toilets and dirty surroundings. It's embarrassing."
She said there was no certainty for tenants. "We don't even know if the new master tenant will keep us, and rent might go up. It's just too much of a gamble."
Mr Sean Lee, 27, director of Wildfire Kitchen and Bar, which opened there in February, said: "It's frustrating. We're a new arrival and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate this space.
"The public toilets are in terrible condition. There are broken drain covers around and it's dangerous... things also fall into the drains, clogging them up," he said. "And all this time we are still paying rent."
The company, he said, has written to the SLA several times about the matter.
Pegasus International Preschool faces the same issues. The childcare centre's vice-principal, Ms Nor Huda, said: "I hope something will be done soon."
The SLA put the plot up for re-tender on Nov 30, for an initial term of three years, renewable up till 2021. The new tenancy agreement will start on April 1 and tenants will be allowed to remain till March 31. The successful tenderer must also allow the childcare centre to stay till June 30. Thereafter, it is up to the new master tenant to decide if it wants to keep current tenants.
An SLA spokesman said its managing agent had taken over the management of the plot to "ensure continuity of all operations and maintenance of the State property".
"We are aware of feedback that there are maintenance issues on the ground and are working with our managing agent to address them," she said.
When The Sunday Times visited the site last week, it saw a wire hanging off a wall on the building's facade. Broken tiles littered the sidewalk, makeshift drain covers were upturned, and the carpark gantry remained broken.
Ms Belinda Lim, co-owner of The Wine Company, does not regret her decision to leave Evans Road in October. "Enough was enough," she said.
But one of the directors of Mr Prata, Mr Chandra Sehkar, is not bothered. His outlet is the only one there with its own toilet.
"No customer has complained to me," he said.
Said Mr Roger Lim, 47, who often dines at the Evans Road hang-out, "It has its charm. But frankly, the place is run down."
"I don't pay that much attention to it because I'm there for coffee or prata," added Mr Lim, who runs a design company.
"But it certainly could do with cleaner toilets."
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/tenants-upset-over-evans-rd-shambles
Increase in GST (2016): is to pay SLA CEO more bonuses for his 'good work' of dropping the ball...
BTW, when CEOs earn more due to 'undisclosed interested party transactions', Ministars get a proportionate raise, according to the following guy earns more by parroting what his ministar says...:
"If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister's ideas and proposals. Hence, a reasonable payout will help to maintain a bit of dignity."
- MP Lim Wee Kiak apologises for comments on pay
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