WP to query Govt on defective MRT trains in Parliament
It said the Transport Minister had given contradictory statements regarding the issue
Published: 2:20 PM, July 17, 2016
Updated: 9:56 AM, July 18, 2016
SINGAPORE — The Workers’ Party has taken issue with what it described as Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan’s contradictory statements about the recall of defective MRT trains for repairs, and said its Members of Parliament have filed questions on the matter.
In its statement on Sunday (July 17), the WP said: “Mr Khaw was reported by the media to have said, contradictorily, that the defective trains were not a major issue and yet would have caused a panic if the issue were made public.”
The opposition party said that it was “very concerned” to learn of the “revelation” about the defects that will lead to 26 trains, in total, being shipped back to its Chinese manufacturer for repairs.
Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Daniel Goh, who signed off as the WP’s chair of its media team, said: “Major issues affecting our public transport system should be discussed publicly.”
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Temasek mulling SMRT buyout: Report
Posted 18 Jul 2016 13:07
SINGAPORE: Temasek Holdings is mulling a buyout offer for transport operator SMRT, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday (Jul 18).
The state investment firm is said to be weighing an offer to buy all the shares it does not already own, according to the report, which cited an unnamed source with knowledge of the matter. According to SMRT’s website, Temasek is the biggest shareholder with 54.2 per cent as at Feb 11, 2015.
In a SGX filing on Monday, SMRT announced a continuation of the trading halt “pending a possible announcement”.
The transport operator requested a trading halt on Jul 15, ahead of the announcement that its operating assets will come under the new rail financing framework from Oct 1. Under the new arrangement, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) pay nearly S$1 billion for more than 60,000 SMRT assets.
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Temasek’s potential buyout of SMRT unlikely a nationalisation move, say analysts
Sources said yesterday that Temasek, which owns 54 per cent of SMRT, is considering an offer to buy out the transport operator and take it private. The firm is valued at close to $2.4 billion.
PublishedJul 19, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
Adrian Lim
While Temasek Holdings is said to be considering a buyout of SMRT - just days after the Government announced it will take over the transport operator’s rail assets - it is unlikely to be a move towards nationalisation, said analysts.
This is because the Government intends to keep the rail market contestable and to retender the operation of rail lines more often, they pointed out.
SIM University economist Walter Theseira said: “For nationalisation to occur, SMRT will have to be delisted and turned into a statutory corporation under the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) or Ministry of Transport’s control.
“I find this move unlikely because, in the long run, the Government wants to keep the option open to have the rail market be contestable. It is not credible to have a government agency competing with other private companies in a tender exercise.”
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
sadfa
Raise questions no use la.
Most useful is vote out garbagement n everyday we can have live on tv trials of garbagement n Ho jinx.
Best is we can have live hanging on cna.
______________
Exchange points got use ma?
Sadly this can never happen .
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sadfa
Saddam qadaffi deposed, all kanna jialat jialat.
If sporeans don’t dare to take their fates in their hands, sporeans n their children condemned liao.
Saddam & qaddafi desposed by external forces . You should look at Indonesia ; Phillipines and Taiwan . Sadly the opposition does not have the quality to form the government yet .
Temasek to buy out public transport operator SMRT for S$1.18b
Posted 20 Jul 2016 18:32
SINGAPORE: Public transport operator SMRT looks set to be privatised after Temasek Holdings announced a S$1.18 billion buyout offer at S$1.68 a share Wednesday (Jul 20).
The offer from the Singapore state investment firm values SMRT at approximately S$2.565 billion, Temasek and SMRT said in a media statement. Once the acquisition is completed, SMRT will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek and will be delisted from the Singapore Exchange.
In their statement, Temasek and SMRT said that privatisation will provide SMRT with “greater flexibility to focus on its primary role of delivering safe and high quality rail service, without short term pressures of being a listed company, in the midst of its transition to a new regulatory framework under the new rail financing framework.”
The statement added that SMRT is “expected to face challenges, even under the new framework, with costs and uncertainties associated with an ageing and expanded network”.
SMRT will also need to “focus on delivering on existing and new multi-year programmes to support an ageing and expanded network”, the statement added, including “the need to deliver a higher order of rail reliability and service in line with the heightened maintenance
performance standards to be determined by the Land Transport Authority (LTA)”.
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Returning SMRT to the state
Christopher Tan
Senior Transport Correspondent
Published
Jul 20, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
If Temasek delists SMRT Corp and takes it private, it would have come full circle to a point in time 20 years ago when it mooted the idea of floating the transport operator to unlock its value.
The motivation to delist will be somewhat different, though. In essence, it will be part of a bigger picture to bring public transport to a higher level.
Not that a listed entity cannot also be an excellent public transport operator - just look at Hong Kong’s MTR Corp, which has been exceedingly successful in serving commuters and rewarding its shareholders.
But sometimes, when an entity is set up to serve multiple masters, it could well end up serving none. In the case of SMRT, it is clear that it has been trying valiantly to juggle opposing interests.
And fairly or unfairly, it has been getting a lot of flak of late for enriching shareholders at the expense of commuters.
Delisting removes this tension. There will no longer be pressure from the market to see which stock gives the best dividend yield.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
sadfa
Who say opposition cannot form government?
That’s a self serving circular lie perpetuated by garbagement.
Cos opposition supposedly cannot form government, you have to vote in garbagement everytime.
This also means opposition will forever never be voted in becos they’ll forever never have the experience. Or you think opposition can b interns for ministers n learn from them?
N what is quality? Garbagement say their ministers have quality, oppo are all small timers, who aren’t good enough.
You naive n believe?
Kfc will of course say their fried chicken the best la!! N all others no good. Haha!
This is as rubbish as last time garbagement say all opposition are crooks n will steal yr cpf n give away reserves. Fuck the cb garbagement!! Reserves don’t belong to garbagement ok.
Funny you talk bout Taiwan. They were even more tightly controlled than spore. But the Taiwanese voted in their opposition who got no experience n when they’re unhappy with kmt, they’ll vote in the opposition again n again.
if Kmt say opposition don’t have our experience etc & the country will b ruined, Taiwanese say fcuk you, they see thru shallow lies n vote out kmt. Learn something la.
Never b indebted to fcuked up dictators who will aways say they’re the best n scare stupid cowardly ppl. Haha right. Big surprise there
So you think that the opposition got the quality to form the next government ? The reason I mention these 3 countries including Taiwan ( Though officially not a country ) is that the power of the people provide the catalyst for change . Sadly I don’t see that happening in Singkieland .
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ColaJack
Don’t try you’ll never know.
If we are to continue with this greedy government, the worse is yet to come
The worse may be here already .
Temasek makes $1.18b buyout offer for SMRT
Published 8 hours ago
Investment company offering $1.68 a share, a premium over last closing price of $1.545
Chia Yan Min
Economics Correspondent
Marissa Lee
Temasek Holdings is buying out troubled transport firm SMRT, which has seen multiple breakdowns on its lines in the past few years.
Temasek said yesterday it is offering $1.68 a share - a premium over the firm’s last closing price of $1.545 - in a deal that will cost the investment company $1.18 billion.
A successful buyout will see SMRT delisted from the Singapore Exchange (SGX), 16 years after it went public.
The deal has been structured as a scheme of arrangement. This means a majority of the shareholders who hold at least 75 per cent of shares must approve the deal or the offer will fall through. This will take place at a meeting likely to be convened some time in October, and Temasek cannot vote.
Temasek said it will not revise its offer price. It will have to wait a year to try again if the offer fails.
The buyout announcement yesterday comes on the heels of the announcement of a new rail financing framework (NRFF) last Friday. This will involve SMRT disposing of its rail assets to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for close to $1 billion. In return, SMRT will pay a licence fee to the LTA for the rights to operate the lines with effect from Oct 1.
Outcome of privatisation in shareholders’ hands
While this frees SMRT from heavy capital expenditure, SMRT
Temasek said last night that neither SMRT’s management team nor its workforce would be affected by the change in control.
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Temasek’s $1.18b buyout offer for SMRT: Analysts welcome offer
said the new framework poses challenges.
SMRT chief executive Desmond Kuek said last night that
For Temasek’s bid to succeed, a majority of shareholders present at a meeting have to vote for it.
Related Story
SMRT’s privatisation: 9 things to know about the deal
significant business risks remain and “many factors are outside the control of SMRT”, such as uncertainty over future fare increases and ridership numbers. He said: “The key difference between being publicly listed and privatised is the ability to think long term.”
SMRT chairman Koh Yong Guan agreed: “Taking the company private will allow SMRT to better fulfil its role as a public transport operator without the pressure of short-term market expectations.”
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