Formation of the Public Utilities Board

 

In early 1951, a British expert on local government (The Straits Times, 26 Apr 1951, p. 4), Dr L. C. Hill, was invited to Singapore to provide advice. By the time Hill left, he had made recommendations on how hospitals, fire services, transport, electricity, and gas services should be run (The Singapore Free Press, 5 Dec 1951, p. 21). Hill recommended separate corporations or boards to manage the provision of electricity and gas services. At the time, electricity and gas services were publicly administered by Municipal Departments, but Hill believed that a public corporation or board would have greater freedom of action in the provision of electricity and gas (The Straits Times, 13 Feb 1952, p. 4). This was the basis for the establishment of the Public Utilities Board in 1963.

 

During the British rule of Singapore, then British Resident Major William Farquhar built a small reservoir in 1821. This served as a water supply for ships and for the town. However, the  government then did not take charge of the town’s water supply (The Straits Times, 18 Oct 1884, p. 38). The residents had to depend on wells for decades until Tan Kim Seng’s  donation of $13,000 to the British government in 1857 to improve the town’s water supply (Public Utilities Board, 1985, pp. 4-11). The Municipality finally secured a loan in London’s financial markets and built Thomson Road Reservoir in 1878. This reservoir was reconstructed and renamed as MacRitchie Reservoir in 1894.

 

Gas and electricity

Gas was originally introduced to Singapore for street lighting. For this purpose, the Singapore Gas Company was formed in 1861 and Kallang Gasworks was completed the following year in 1862 (Public Utilities Board, 1985, p. 17). In 1901, the Singapore Gas Company was taken over by the Municipal Commission in 1901 for about $436,000. It was a few years later in 1905 that the Singapore Tramway Company started a power station at MacKenzie Road in order to run an electric tramway service. The Singapore Tramway Company’s power station also supplied the Municipality with electricity for street lighting. The following year in 1906, the Municipality was reselling this power to private consumers (Public Utilities Board, 1985, p. 21). Increasing demand led the Municipality to construct its own power station, Saint James Power Station. In 1927, Saint James began operations.

 

Many city councillors in the public administration of the Colony disagreed with the recommendation. They argued that Singapore was too small to require numerous autonomous bodies for running the country (The Singapore Free Press, 13 Feb 1952, p. 5). By 1956, when the government implemented some of Hill’s recommendations, there was still an ongoing debate about his suggestion regarding the control of electricity and gas (The Singapore Free Press, 12 Jan 1956, p. 1). By 7 February 1956, it was decided that the City Council would transfer their responsibility for gas, electricity and water services to a new statutory authority, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) (The Straits Times, 7 Feb 1956, p. 1).

 

Fiat

In 1958, it was announced that the Singapore government would begin setting up the PUB, regardless of whether the City Council was agreeable to the idea (The Straits Times, 5 Apr 1958, p. 9). In 1959, the Ministry for National Development took over the duties and powers of the City Council after the new Singapore government was sworn in (The Straits Times, 17 Jul 1959, p. 6). By 1 September 1959, the offices of the utilities departments had moved to locations near each other for operational convenience and to prepare for the later date when they would be part of the PUB (The Straits Times, 1 Sep 1959, p. 4). Experts from the Canadian government assisted with the integration of the functions of the now-defunct City Council into the various Ministries (The Straits Times, 26 Nov 1959, p. 4). The establishment of PUB was the final stage of the integration (The Straits Times, 30 Nov 1960, p. 4). In the meantime, the unions were unhappy with the changes. They were unsure of their future after PUB was established and its subsequent integration into the Ministry of National Development (The Straits Times, 16 Apr 1961, p. 14).

 

Passing the legislation

The Public Utilities Bill was read for the first time in the Legislative Assembly by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 27 June 1962 (Debates: Official Reports, 27 June 1962, Vol. 18, col. 28). The reading of the Bill marked the final phase of the take-over and integration of the defunct City Council (The Straits Times, 11 Jul 1962, p. 4). Not only was the bill intended to set up the PUB to take over the functions, services, assets and liabilities of the defunct City Council, it repealed the Electricity (Rural Area) Ordinance, 1951 and certain provisions of the Municipal Ordinance (Chapter 133 of the 1936 Edition) and of the Local Government Ordinance, 1957 (No. 24 of 1957) (Debates: Official Reports, 27 June 1962, Vol. 18, col. 28). When the Bill was read a second time on 9 July 1962, it became clear that a large sum of money would have to be borrowed from the World Bank for the expansion of power supply and waterworks.

 

After the reading, the Bill was committed to a Select Committee (Debates: Official Reports, 9 July 1962, Vol. 19, cols. 12-16). The Committee was tasked with collecting public views on the five Bills, one of which included the Public Utilities Bill. The public was given two weeks to respond. The views could be contributed in writing in Malay, Chinese, Tamil or English, and addressed to the clerk of the Legislative Assembly (The Straits Times, 14 Jul 1962, p. 4). Advertisements were placed in newspapers as well as on the radio. The Select Committee received two written reports and interviewed 11 persons over the course of the fortnight. The views were compiled and the report was presented to the Legislative Assembly on 25 September 1962. In the report, the Committee did not recommend any amendments to the Public Utilities Bill (Report of the Select Committee on Public Utilities, B 179/1962).

 

The Bill was read a second and third time on 5 April 1963 under a Certificate of Urgency (Debates: Official Reports, 5 April 1963, Vol. 20, col. 113) and came into force on 1 May 1963 (Government Gazette. Subsidiary Legislation Supplement, 30 April 1963, Sp.S 69/1963, p. 151). Dr Fong Kim Heng was appointed Chairman of the PUB. Others such as Dr Ong Swee Law, Michael Fan, George Teo, Chor Yeok Eng, Phyllis Eu, Seah Mui Kok and S. T. Steward were appointed as members for a period of three years (Government Gazette. Extraordinary, 2 May 1963, G.N. 47, p. 841). From 1 November 1963, Sir George Oehlers succeeded Fong as the chairman of the Board (Public Utilities Board, 1964).

 

Early achievements

In its first year of operation, the PUB oversaw events such as water rationing, artificial rain-making, and the laying of the foundation stone for the new Pasir Panjang ‘B’ Power Station (Public Utilities Board, 1964). With Singapore’s rapid industrialisation, it would expand existing reservoirs like Seletar and Pierce as well as build new ones in Kranji-Pandan and the Western Catchment. Demand for electricity went up 277% in the decade following PUB’s founding, necessitating the building of Jurong and Senoko Power Stations. Gas production from naphtha was introduced as a cleaner process and the fuel oil gasification plants were phased out by 1977 (Public Utilities Board, 1985, pp. 39-49). 

 

Sources

The information in this article is valid as at 2011 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Politics and Government