The plot of land in Sengkang embroiled in the columbarium issue has drawn interest from potential bidders, after a new tender for the site was put up by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Tuesday, reported The Straits Times.
In fact, the Taoist Peng Hong Association, which is one of the two groups that lost the tender for the 2,000 sqm site last year, plans to bid again.
“We will definitely be putting a bid for it. Quite a few parties are interested in it,” said its chairman Tan Aik Hock.
According to Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, president of the Singapore Buddhist Federation, several Buddhist groups are also interested in the site. However, he declined to name them since the tender process is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, the housing board has placed more eligibility conditions for the tender.
“The Fernvale Link site was re-tendered to restore the original planning intent of a Chinese temple development. Hence, only religious organisations can tender for the site,” shared a spokesman for the Ministry of National Development.
Tender documents show that only registered charities, societies and non-profit companies are qualified to bid for the site. For-profit companies are excluded.
The group which secures the tender should continue to be a non-profit religious group, charity or society throughout the 30-year lease period.
Set to close on 4 August, the new tender comes almost two months after the first one was terminated by the authorities due to major backlash from residents in the area. They argued that a commercial firm such as Eternal Pure Land should not have been allowed to bid for land set aside for religious development.
Image: Artist’s impression of the Sengkang columbarium. (Photo by LIFE CORPORATION LIMITED)
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
