Land Transport Authority

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Agency overview
Land Transport Authority

Formed	September 1, 1995
Jurisdiction	Ministry of Transport (Singapore)
Website
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The Land Transport Authority's headquarters at the former Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's Hospital.

The Land Transport Authority's headquarters bird's eye view. The new Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's Hospital is at the background

The Land Transport Authority (Abbreviation: LTA; Chinese: 陆路交通管理局; Malay: Penguasa Pengangkutan Darat) of Singapore is a statutory board of the Ministry of Transport. It was founded in September 1, 1995, by merging four agencies, namely, Registry of Vehicles, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation, Roads & Transportation Division of the Public Works Department of Singapore and Land Transport Division of the then-Ministry of Communications. LTA's jurisdiction lies in both private transport on roads as well as public transport.

[edit] Controversy

The practice by some statutory boards of holding on to millions of dollars in unused grants from their ministries has come under fire from the Auditor-General. One of them is the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which held on to $5 million for rail projects for more than 10 years, up to June 2006. The audit of government agencies for the financial year ending March 31, 2007, also uncovered lapses in outsourcing and management of assets. The grants in the LTA's hands had been transferred to it from the Mass Rapid Transit, which the LTA absorbed in 1995. The Transport Ministry did not track the unused grants, nor offset them against subsequent requests for grants by the LTA. The ministry has since recovered the amount as well as $230,155 in interest. But that was not the first time the ministry had failed to recover unused grants, the report said. Two years ago, it paid $28.8 million more in grants than what the LTA needed to pay as interest on bonds. The other two statutory boards singled out were the People's Association, which held $6.9 million in excess grants for two to five years, and the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, which accumulated $4.9 million in unused grants. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports oversees both agencies. The ministry has since recovered the amount as well as $230,155 in interest.