School told to vacate premises

A SCHOOL operating illegally on what was to be the site of a lifestyle attraction in Sembawang has been told to move out.

The School of Hospitality and Resort Management (SHRM), which has about 90 students from countries like India and Vietnam, has been running classes at Admiral Hill since June with the approval of master tenant Yess Group.

The school is accredited with the Ministry of Education and is above board. However, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) does not allow schools to operate on the Admiral Hill plot.

The tenancy agreement between SLA and Yess, awarded in 2007, states that the land is to be redeveloped into a hub for sports, recreation, beauty and health centres, restaurants or campsites.

An SLA spokesman said action has been taken against Yess and that the school has until Dec 31 to vacate the premises. It can continue to run classes there till then.

SLA said it discovered the breach in June through a routine check and had warned Yess about it, but it said the company was ‘uncooperative’.

The company has been warned several times since then, and SLA said that if it does not comply this time, the tenancy agreement could be terminated.

Initially, both Yess and SHRM denied running a school on the grounds of the Old Admiralty House – a national monument site built in 1939 to accommodate Royal Navy officers.

But investigations showed that Yess rented rooms to SHRM on a daily basis in an attempt to mask lessons as corporate training sessions – an approved use of the premises.

Students who spoke to The Straits Times also admitted that they were attending classes at the site.

When contacted, SHRM said it did not know that it was illegal to rent rooms at Admiral Hill to conduct lessons. It had moved into an office at Admiral Hill in April, and subsequently entered into an agreement with Yess to run classes there.

The school, which works with external universities to offer hospitality management degrees, has obtained new premises in Admiralty Road East, and students will move there for classes from December, after renovations are completed.

This is the second time that Yess has flouted the law at Admiral Hill. Earlier this year, it was caught running an illegal dormitory comprising metal containers to house foreign students and workers on the site.

In April, SLA demanded that the containers be removed. Yess complied by last month.

Yess first made headlines in March, when The Straits Times reported that its plans for the Admiral Hill site had not taken off.

The company had announced a $5 million redevelopment plan two years ago that included building a country club and other facilities. As of March this year, however, little had been done.

Students at the school seem unfazed by the hubbub. A 24-year-old student from India, who declined to be named, said: ‘The school is accredited, that is what is most important. Anyway, it is good we are moving. I am tired of climbing up the hill every day.’

Source: Straits Times, 16 Oct 2009