Singapore announced on Friday it took possession of 38 Oxley Road, the former home of its founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and would study how it could be developed into a public space, ending years of public debate over what to do with the property amid a family feud among the late leader’s children.
In the interim, necessary maintenance works would be carried out as required, and there would be no public access to the site, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the National Heritage Board (NHB) said in a joint statement.
The site was also where events took place that shaped the country’s independence movement and national history.
In January, the SLA and the NHB announced that 38 Oxley Road was gazetted for acquisition.
The government agencies said then that the site would take into account its market value as of the date of the gazette of the acquisition and any claims by parties involved.
Preserving and acquiring the 38 Oxley Road site means that it cannot be redeveloped for residential, commercial or other private uses.
