Proposed law to protect state land will raise penalties, give more powers to enforcement officers

A new State Lands Protection Bill tabled in Parliament on Monday (Nov 7) proposes to significantly raise the maximum fine faced by offenders who encroach on or damage state land.

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The Bill, tabled for its first reading by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Law Rahayu Mahzam, seeks to enact a new Act to replace the current State Lands Encroachment Act (SLEA), which was last reviewed 48 years ago, in 1974.

“Since then, the types of encroachments and misuse of State Land have evolved, rendering many of the SLEA’s provisions outdated and ineffective,” said the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in a press release.

SLA said that the amendments will ensure that “scarce land resources” are better protected from damage and improper use that can impede development and create public safety issues.

Examples of such encroachment include building or putting up makeshift structures like awnings, illegal dumping and planting on state land.

The key changes include more severe penalties for encroaching on and damaging state land, and provisions for the Courts to order offenders to compensate for any damage, as well as for costs incurred by the Government in restoring the land and fixing the damage.

If the Bill is passed, the maximum fine for all unauthorised activities on state land will be raised to S$50,000 from S$5,000. The offender can also be jailed for not more than six months, which is unchanged from current legislation.