PAP MP doing the right thing: sack the expensive town council mayors

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Put HDB in charge of maintenance for housing estates instead of town councils: Murali Pillai​

The HDB had taken on the role of estate manager before the Town Councils Act was passed in 1989. PHOTO: ST FILE

Ng Keng Gene

May 10, 20222



SINGAPORE - An MP has proposed that the Housing Board handle maintenance for public housing estates, to manage the rising costs of such services and address other challenges that town councils have faced in providing them.
In his adjournment motion on Monday (May 9), Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok) made the case for the re-centralisation of estate maintenance resources under HDB.
He cited how new Build-To-Order (BTO) projects would have "significantly higher" maintenance costs compared with older blocks as they are high-rise and have extra "green" features. Town councils also will not enjoy any economies of scale for such costs, he added.
The HDB had taken on the role of estate manager before the Town Councils Act was passed in 1989 to give elected MPs autonomy to run towns by decentralising the management and maintenance of HDB estates.
In response, Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann said: "We would think very carefully before re-centralising township maintenance... because devolution is at the heart of the town council concept."
She noted that it will not be feasible for the Government to fully fund cost increases, as inflationary pressures are affecting all sectors - not just estate maintenance.
In his speech, Mr Murali had highlighted a misalignment of incentives between the HDB and town councils, which could lead to increased maintenance costs.

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HDB - as the developer - may not adequately consider maintenance costs in its building designs, he said, noting it has different motivations from a maintenance contractor.
Newer high-rise BTO projects, for example, have pressure reducing valves installed to ensure the water supply is working well, he added. Some green areas require specialists to maintain them, instead of general landscaping contractors.
Having these BTO projects in mature estates also raises the issue of equity, said Mr Murali.


He said residents of older flats could potentially be helping to bear the higher maintenance costs of newer BTO flats. This is because town councils do not differentiate between residents of newer and older flats when collecting service and conservancy charges, which go towards funding such works.
On the lifespan of common properties in older estates, Mr Murali argued that service and conservancy charges should be used to maintain such infrastructure, but not to replace them when they have exceeded their lifespan.
He thus urged the Government to review the current system of estate management, and consider having HDB take charge of maintenance services.
If this is not feasible, the authorities could alternatively ensure service and conservancy charges are not used for renewal of infrastructure or to address design issues in BTO developments, he added.


In her response, Ms Sim said long-term cost increases will have to be borne by all parties.
Town councils play an important role in managing cost increases, she said, adding this is why they have full autonomy to set rates for service and conservancy charges.
On possible misaligned incentives of developers and maintenance contractors, Ms Sim said HDB considers sustainability and maintainability in its design of new BTO projects. The Government will review its processes to ensure that ease of maintenance is given priority, she added.
Addressing Mr Murali's call for the Government to fund replacements of infrastructure beyond its life cycle, Ms Sim said the Government is already co-funding such works.
Town councils are required to allocate at least 40 per cent of their income to funds which go towards cyclical works, she said, adding that a similar percentage of Government grants are channelled towards these funds.
The Government will pay attention to maintenance costs in designing HDB towns and track how the costs of running public housing estates should be managed, she said.

 

[shittypore]

Many Cronies tan boh chiak.

 

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Forum: Let MPs focus on other roles besides estate maintenance​

May 13, 2022

I support Bukit Batok MP Murali Pillai's suggestion that the Housing Board should bear the responsibility of maintaining housing estates instead of the town councils (Let HDB maintain housing estates to manage rising costs: MP, May 11).
Town councils were established 33 years ago and it is now time to relook and rethink the role of town councils and MPs.
Mr Murali's assertion that residents of older flats could potentially be helping to bear the higher maintenance costs of newer flats is also spot on. Since newer blocks of flats have features such as green areas, maintenance costs will inevitably increase.
HDB should look into lowering the costs of daily maintenance.
As it is, MPs have their hands full helping their constituents with their problems and representing constituents' concerns in Parliament, among other things.
Let MPs perform their many roles and leave the running of the housing estates to HDB to keep maintenance costs as low as possible.

Heng Cho Choon


Join ST's Telegram channel an

 

[bobby]

As though the fucking PAP MPs are so busy doing their rounds the estates. In fact most of the MPs are the Town Council mayors themselves.

Instead of making that statement...the fact should be that the $500K Town Council mayors are not doing their jobs.

 

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How about cutting the salaries of the town mayors to keep costs down?

Service and conservancy charges for HDB residents likely to go up​

Singapore's town councils are currently evaluating their finances to determine an appropriate increase in S&CC. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
Amelia Teng

Apr 30, 2023

SINGAPORE – Service and conservancy charges (S&CC) are likely to go up soon for Housing Board residents, but the Government will provide temporary support to cushion the impact on households.
Town councils here are currently evaluating their finances to determine an appropriate increase in S&CC, and more details will be provided after these deliberations are completed, coordinating chairman for PAP town councils Lim Biow Chuan told The Straits Times.
S&CC was last raised in 2017, with the hike of between $1 and $17 per month phased over two years. Such fees go towards estate cleaning, landscaping, refuse collection, pest control and maintenance of mechanical and electrical fixtures such as lifts and lights.
When the rates are adjusted, “time-limited, special funding support” will be given to help residents deal with the higher fees, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Bukit Batok MP Murali Pillai on April 21.
Responding to queries from ST, Mr Lim said town councils have been facing increasing cost pressures over energy prices, maintenance costs and manpower costs. Some of these increases have been particularly sharp, such as for energy prices, which have risen by 23 per cent between 2018 and 2023, he said.
Lift maintenance costs have also increased due to higher labour costs for lift technicians and higher materials costs.
“With the implementation of the Progressive Wage Model to uplift low-wage workers, the town councils’ operational costs have also gone up due to increase in tender prices for conservancy cleaning contracts and horticulture contracts,” Mr Lim said.

“This increase in costs cannot be avoided if we want to support the lower-wage workers.”
Mr Lim, who is also MP for Mountbatten, stressed that PAP town councils have been careful in managing expenditure and constantly seek productivity improvements and cost savings.
“Town councils are grateful to the Ministry of National Development (MND) for providing regular grants for our operations, which help us maintain S&CC at a lower level than we otherwise would need to,” he added. Some $240 million in grants are provided to town councils each year to offset maintenance costs so that they do not fully fall on residents.
Mr Murali said a key concern is that maintenance costs for mature HDB estates will rise faster than for newer estates.
Based on the latest financial statements, he told ST that town councils that manage a substantial number of mature flats tend to “run operational deficits before accounting for government grants, which are admittedly quite substantial”.
“In mature estates, there are simply more things to maintain,” he said. “For example, it is not uncommon to see perimeter drains that have become misaligned or damaged due to soil subsidence or natural deterioration.”

ST contacted nearly all 17 town councils, run by either the People’s Action Party or the Workers’ Party, but they declined to comment or did not respond.
Observers such as National University of Singapore (NUS) business school professor Lawrence Loh said the confluence of global factors such as inflation and geopolitical tensions having raised the cost of materials and services meant a price alignment is necessary.
But it is critical to ensure that lower-income households are not hit hard by the fee adjustments, he said.
“Financial support and rebates should remain a mainstay of assistance schemes. Yet, we have to consider carefully if any changes should be locked in permanently so as not to affect long-term financial sustainability,” said Prof Loh, who is director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at NUS.
“It may be prudent to introduce time-bound or one-off additional measures initially while the picture of overall economic recovery and cost stabilisation becomes clearer.”
Manpower costs are likely to be a strong driver behind the impending hike, said Singapore Management University’s associate professor of law Eugene Tan. He noted that wages have been rising after little to no wage adjustment during the pandemic years of 2020 to 2022.
Even so, there is always a question over whether S&CC hikes can be deferred or be smaller, given that town councils have operational surpluses, he said. “Furthermore, some residents are of the view that standards of estate maintenance have not improved, and so the hike in charges is less acceptable.”
Given additional funding from MND, some residents may also find the higher charges puzzling, Prof Tan added.
In its April parliamentary reply, MND said the Government had provided additional funding to town councils in May 2022 to help them manage steep cost increases caused by factors such as the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the global supply crunch.
The money would go towards projects under the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme and the Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC). CIPC funds are typically used for facilities such as covered walkways, footpaths, cycling tracks and playgrounds.
The Government gives out rebates in its annual Budget to offset the S&CC. Depending on flat type, Singaporean households will receive between 1½ and 3½ months of rebates in 2023.