State Lands Protection Act 2022

REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE ACTS SUPPLEMENT Published by Authority NO. 38] Friday, December 30 [2022 The following Act was passed by Parliament on 30 November 2022 and assented to by the President on 27 December 2022:— State Lands Protection Act 2022 (No. 42 of 2022) I assent. HALIMAH YACOB, President. 27 December 2022. Date of Commencement: 1 November 2024 An Act to provide for the protection of State lands generally, to repeal the State Lands Encroachments Act 1883 and to make consequential and related amendments to certain other Acts. Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title and commencement 1. This Act is the State Lands Protection Act 2022 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette. General interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “animal” means — (a) any fish, mollusc, crustacea or other form of aquatic life; (b) any reptile; (c) any bird; (d) any livestock or domestic fowl; or (e) any mammal (other than man); “authorised officer”, for any provision of this Act, means an individual who is appointed as an authorised officer under section 29 for the purposes of that provision; “Authority” means the Singapore Land Authority established under the Singapore Land Authority Act 2001; “Collector” has the meaning given by the Land Revenue Collection Act 1940; “Commissioner of Lands” means the Commissioner of Lands appointed under section 6(1) of the State Lands Act 1920; “compliance period”, for an encroachment notice — (a) means the period specified in the encroachment notice within which the person given the encroachment notice must comply with it; and (b) includes any extension of that period under section 33, if granted; “corporation” means any body corporate formed or incorporated or existing in or outside Singapore and includes any foreign company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1967; “damage” includes to contaminate; “director” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967; “encroachment notice” means a notice given under section 12; “enforcement officer” means an individual who is appointed under section 30 as an enforcement officer; “erect”, in relation to a structure, includes any work carried out in constructing, installing, creating, replacing, maintaining, renewing or restoring a structure; “forest product” means the product of trees and other vegetation (such as timber and fruits) that are of economic value; “goods” means movable property of any kind, and includes — (a) any sand, soil, rocks, building material or building component; (b) any device, equipment or machinery or any part of any device, equipment or machinery; (c) any live animal or insect; and (d) any packaging, freight container, pallet or like article of transport, but does not include choses in action; “holding yard” means a place used by or under the management or control of the Authority for the storage of removed material; “land” includes — (a) any structure or premises in, under or over the land; and (b) any foreshore; “lawful authority” means with the permission of the Authority, or as required or allowed by or under any written law; “limited liability partnership” has the meaning given by the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; “objection” means an objection given under section 15 to an encroachment notice; “objection period”, for an encroachment notice — (a) means the period specified in the encroachment notice within which the person given the encroachment notice may give an objection if the person objects to and does not wish to comply with the encroachment notice; and (b) includes any extension of that period under section 33, if granted; “offence under this Act” includes an offence under any subsidiary legislation made under this Act; “park”, in relation to a vehicle or vessel, means as follows: (a) to bring the vehicle to a stationary position and cause it to wait for any purpose; (b) to moor the vessel and cause it to be secured in a stationary position on the water; “partner”, in relation to a limited partnership, includes a limited partner in the limited partnership; “public authority” means a body established by or under any public Act to perform a public function; “removed material” means any of the following that is moved or removed by an authorised officer under section 13(2)(a) or (b): (a) any vehicle or vessel or a part thereof; (b) any animal (dead or alive); (c) any waste, goods, structure or other thing; “repealed Act” means the State Lands Encroachments Act 1883 repealed by this Act; “State land” has the meaning given by section 3; “structure” includes any of the following: (a) a building, including a building constructed of short‑lived materials; (b) a post, pile, stake, pipe, chain, wire or any other similar thing fixed to the ground; (c) a dock, wharf or jetty, or a floating structure that is or is to be permanently moored; (d) a tunnel, foundation or pit, or an underpass or excavation works; (e) a drain, canal, culvert or lined water channel; (f) a seawall, revetment, groyne, weir or dyke; (g) a billboard, signboard, hoarding, fence, partition, sun‑shading device or canopy, an awning or advertising structure, or a platform, safety netting or other temporary structure; (h) a roof, cladding, curtain wall, bracket, cornice or other exterior feature of a building that is installed on, forms part of or projects outwards from a building; (i) a road or path; (j) a flyover, overpass, viaduct or bridge, whether or not only for pedestrians or vehicles; (k) any works for the reclamation of land that are or are liable to be, or would, but for the reclamation, be or be liable to be, covered wholly or partly by water; “substance”, in relation to State land, includes earth, stone, clay, gravel, sand, shell, minerals, mineral oil, natural gas and other materials found on, in or forming part of the State land; “unincorporated association” means a society or body unincorporate which, under any written law, may sue or be sued, or hold property, in the name of an officer of the society or body duly appointed for that purpose; “vehicle” means any vehicle (whether mechanically propelled or otherwise) that is designed to transport goods, people or goods and people, on land; “vessel” means a boat, launch or floating craft used in navigation by water, however propelled or moved; “waste” means any of the following, whether or not recyclable: (a) any garbage, rubbish or refuse; (b) any construction debris, demolition debris or renovation debris; (c) any solid or liquid waste matter (whether domestic or commercial), and includes ashes, any dead animal, landscaping material, and garden cuttings or clippings or other plant matter; (d) any other material, substance or thing (whether or not of a similar kind) deposited at a place if its size, shape, nature or volume adversely affects the proper use of the place. Meaning of “State land” 3.—(1) Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4), in this Act, State land means land in Singapore — (a) that is unalienated land; (b) that vests in the Government or becomes State land because of the operation of this Act, or a declaration or other instrument under another Act, and remains unalienated land; (c) that is surrendered to the Government by the owner of the land or holder of a lease for that land and remains unalienated land; or (d) that is the subject of a notification in the Gazette made under the provisions of section 3 or 5 of the Land Acquisition Act 1966 unless the notification is cancelled before possession of the land is taken by a Collector under that Act. (2) Land ceases to be State land if — (a) the land is sold, or lawfully contracted to be sold, and the purchase price or other consideration (if any) for the sale has been received by the Government (or a person on behalf of the Government), regardless of whether — (i) the purchaser is recorded in the register of titles as the registered proprietor of the land or by the creation of one or more folios for that land; or (ii) one or more folios for that land is created under the Land Titles Act 1993; or (b) the land is lawfully contracted to be sold by award of tender and the deposit has been received by the Government or a person on behalf of the Government. (3) However, land to which subsection (2)(b) applies becomes State land again if the purchaser fails to complete the purchase. (4) None of the following parcels of land is treated as State land for the purposes of this Act: (a) unalienated land that is set aside under the Parks and Trees Act 2005 as a national park, nature reserve or public park, or as green verges or turfed open spaces to be managed and maintained by the National Parks Board; (b) unalienated land that is a drainage reserve within the meaning of the Sewerage, Drainage and Coastal Protection Act 1999; [Act 8 of 2026 wef 29/05/2026] (c) unalienated land that is within the railway area delineated in plans and maps prepared, amended or replaced under section 5(1) or (5) of the Cross‑Border Railways Act 2018; (d) unalienated land that is railway premises or a railway within the meaning of the Rapid Transit Systems Act 1995; (e) a public street within the meaning of the Street Works Act 1995; (f) a street reserve that is vested in the Government under section 14 of the Street Works Act 1995; (g) a backlane (within the meaning of the Street Works Act 1995) vested in the Government. (5) In this section, “unalienated land” means land in Singapore in respect of which no grant (whether in fee simple or in perpetuity) or lease, and no licence to occupy, is granted or issued, under any of the following: (a) the Foreshores Act 1920; (b) the State Lands Act 1920; (c) the State Lands Ordinance 1886; (d) the Crown Lands Ordinance 1886. Purposes of Act 4. The purposes of this Act are to ensure that State land is protected from damage and improper use so as — (a) to facilitate the public use and enjoyment of appropriate State land; (b) to facilitate infrastructure and economic development on State land; and (c) to support the management of State land in a way that both the land and its resources are sustained in perpetuity.