Government to review management of all town councils

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

The government will conduct a comprehensive review on the legislation governing all town councils (TCs) in Singapore.

SINGAPORE: The government will conduct a comprehensive review on the legislation governing all town councils (TCs) in Singapore.
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced in Parliament on Monday that Senior Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry, Lee Yi Shyan, will head the review.


This comes on the back of a review to study the sale of town council software to AIM, which is owned by the PAP.
The National Development Ministry's review team found there was no misuse of public funds and residents' interests were not compromised.


Mr Khaw said: "After the Punggol East by-election, Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) had to hand over the management of Punggol East SMC to Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC). While both TCs agreed to an official handover on 1 May, AHPETC wanted to move into the Punggol East office earlier to set up their operations, while PRPTC needed more time to prepare its alternative office before it could move out. Both TCs ended up sharing office space for two months, to ensure continuity of service to all residents - not just residents of Punggol East, but also residents of Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC which the Punggol East office also served. How to share office space for this two-month period became a point of discussion.


“There was initial frustration when both parties could not agree to the proposed layout for the shared office. Differences also arose over several other issues. MND officers stepped in to facilitate the handover and broker an arrangement acceptable to both parties. Eventually both sides came to a compromise on the various issues. There are clearly some lacunae in the rules dealing with handovers of TCs. We need to look into this.”


Another area of concern is that of the town councils' sinking funds, which are used for items like replacing lifts, conducting major repairs and repainting programmes. As the sinking funds can amount to millions of dollars, most town councils find it difficult to explain to residents why their service and conservancy charges have to increase to build up the kitty further.


Some town councils end up delaying the necessary S&CC increases, creating a serious problem that will emerge when maintenance works are needed.


Mr Khaw also highlighted how town councils refuse additional responsibilities, especially if they come at a political price.

He said: “For example, some TCs are reluctant to enforce TC by-laws strictly, such as on obstruction of common corridors, even though this is a fire safety risk. Another example is the disagreement over who should clean the hawker centres. There are currently two cleaning teams: the contractor appointed by the Hawkers' Association cleans the table tops, while the TCs clean the floor and toilets. This division is inefficient, but consolidating the cleaning function will require the TCs to have to charge stallholders a higher S&CC.


“These examples illustrate how political pressures on TCs can lead to TCs making sub-optimal decisions, resulting in poorer outcomes for the residents. This is not a simple problem to tackle as it is an unintended consequence of the very nature of TCs and is deep-rooted in the current practice of many TCs.”


Town councils have been in operation for the last 24 years. It is hoped that the review would result in a better, more practical approach to managing town councils for the future.




- CNA/xq


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