$30m To Restore UNSW Site

Source : Today, Thursday, August 9, 2007

THE University of New South Wales (UNSW) might have to spend up to $30 million to restore the condition of the plot of land in Changi — meant for its campus — before handing it back to the Singapore Government.

A UNSW Asia academic told The Australian newspaper yesterday that the Singapore Land Authority and Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) wanted UNSW to remove 857 steel and concrete pilings from the site, situated next to the Singapore Expo. This could cost up to $30 million.

The report comes less than a week after the Economic Development Board (EDB) confirmed it is trying to reclaim $17.3 million in grants to UNSW. The university has said it is in danger of liquidation, which means the EDB may have to write off the grants if UNSW Asia declares itself insolvent.

When contacted, JTC did not confirm the facts in the report, saying that it was "in discussions" about the terms of termination.

The original plan was for UNSW to build a campus that would eventually take up 20ha of land and accommodate up to 15,000 students by 2015.

Meanwhile, as UNSW Asia prepares to shut its temporary campus tomorrow, 47 academic staff have sent a letter to the university's councillors in Sydney to take up their case for better severance pay.

Unhappy with UNSW Asia's offer of 20 weeks' salary, the lecturers are appealing for full redundancy entitlements — 30 weeks' pay and another three weeks' pay for each year of service — which is what the parent university typically dishes out.

The lecturers are also given another week to mull over their options: Once they accept the offer and sign a deed of release, they cannot make further legal claims against the varsity.

The letter also called on UNSW to take a "moral obligation" to academic staff who worked for the university to build its name across Asia and were now made redundant.

In any case, UNSW Asia will not leave Singapore just yet. It will continue to operate from a rented office at Shaw House in Orchard Road next week to settle remaining administrative issues.