<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Clearing the air on town council report
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Monday's commentary by Ms Chua Mui Hoong, 'Town councils: Measure what matters to residents', and Wednesday's letter by Mr Harminder Singh, 'Hold local elections to raise accountability'.
The Ministry of National Development introduced the Town Council Management Report to facilitate informed discussions between town councils and residents on the management of housing estates.
Contrary to Mr Singh's view, the management report is not a response to the investment losses of a few town councils. Our intention is to start off simple, focusing on key areas of town councils' estate management functions that are objective and measurable. The extent of service and conservancy charge arrears is included as it directly affects town councils' financial health.
=> No wonder NO REGRET Losing Tens of Millions in Minibombs, but die die must drive an unemployed pai ka peasant to corner over a few hundred dollars of s & c charges. FCUK PAPEE!
Ms Chua commented that the management report indicators depend too much on factors extraneous to town council management. Indeed, it is the intention of the management report to objectively reflect the state of the estate, which may depend on the town councils' performance as well as other factors. Residents can play a key part in helping their town council do its work well. It would not be appropriate to compare management report results across towns because of different property and resident profiles. Town councils and residents should compare their management report results over time to see how they have improved.
We agree with Ms Chua's suggestion of 'continuous assessment' instead of a 'single big exam'. Under the management report, each town council would have some blocks inspected every month, and all blocks would be inspected at least once a year.
Mr Singh suggested holding elections to town council posts. Town councils are led by elected Members of Parliament. In addition, the Town Councils Act ensures resident representation by requiring at least two-thirds of town council members to be HDB residents from the town.
The management report does not measure residents' views, as they are by nature subjective. However, the management report resource panel members and dialogue participants recognised that residents' views are important, and suggested that town councils do more to engage residents.
In particular, they could provide simplified, summarised financial information to residents and engage them on the results of the management report. Town councils should also help their residents better understand their estate management approach, for example, how their service and conservancy charges are used.
We will review the management report framework regularly to ensure it remains relevant.
Thomas Seow
Deputy Director (Housing)
Ministry of National Development
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Monday's commentary by Ms Chua Mui Hoong, 'Town councils: Measure what matters to residents', and Wednesday's letter by Mr Harminder Singh, 'Hold local elections to raise accountability'.
The Ministry of National Development introduced the Town Council Management Report to facilitate informed discussions between town councils and residents on the management of housing estates.
Contrary to Mr Singh's view, the management report is not a response to the investment losses of a few town councils. Our intention is to start off simple, focusing on key areas of town councils' estate management functions that are objective and measurable. The extent of service and conservancy charge arrears is included as it directly affects town councils' financial health.
=> No wonder NO REGRET Losing Tens of Millions in Minibombs, but die die must drive an unemployed pai ka peasant to corner over a few hundred dollars of s & c charges. FCUK PAPEE!
Ms Chua commented that the management report indicators depend too much on factors extraneous to town council management. Indeed, it is the intention of the management report to objectively reflect the state of the estate, which may depend on the town councils' performance as well as other factors. Residents can play a key part in helping their town council do its work well. It would not be appropriate to compare management report results across towns because of different property and resident profiles. Town councils and residents should compare their management report results over time to see how they have improved.
We agree with Ms Chua's suggestion of 'continuous assessment' instead of a 'single big exam'. Under the management report, each town council would have some blocks inspected every month, and all blocks would be inspected at least once a year.
Mr Singh suggested holding elections to town council posts. Town councils are led by elected Members of Parliament. In addition, the Town Councils Act ensures resident representation by requiring at least two-thirds of town council members to be HDB residents from the town.
The management report does not measure residents' views, as they are by nature subjective. However, the management report resource panel members and dialogue participants recognised that residents' views are important, and suggested that town councils do more to engage residents.
In particular, they could provide simplified, summarised financial information to residents and engage them on the results of the management report. Town councils should also help their residents better understand their estate management approach, for example, how their service and conservancy charges are used.
We will review the management report framework regularly to ensure it remains relevant.
Thomas Seow
Deputy Director (Housing)
Ministry of National Development
