S'pore updates law to tackle severe neighbour disputes, trial to start in Tampines
A new enforcement unit will be empowered to tackle cases involving severe noise and hoarding.November 13, 2024, 04:00 PM
The Singapore government passed a bill to better resolve community disputes, such as those over disamenities caused by severe noise and hoarding.
The Community Disputes Resolution (Amendment) Bill was passed on Nov. 12, 2024 after a debate in parliament where multiple Members of Parliament (MPs) raised issues such as privacy and the handling of residents with mental health conditions.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that the enhancements will help address the many cases that are escalated to agencies every year.
This includes cases where neighbours are unwilling to engage with one another or where it's difficult to adduce evidence of transient noise.
However, he said that the government understands that there are still practical realities and challenges and that the enhancements are not a "silver bullet" to the issues.
Enhancing the Community Disputes Management Framework
Of the three different areas of improvement to the Community Disputes Management Framework, one key change is the setting up of a Community Relations Unit (CRU) — a unit with investigatory and enforcement powers to intervene in neighbour disputes.
Housed under the Municipal Service Office (MSO), which is managed by the Ministry of National Development, the unit will have the discretion powers to determine the severity of a case.
Tong explained that there are cases where the disamenities in question do not amount to "law-and-order" issues yet but could severely disrupt community peace.
He said that while such cases are the "small minority", they could have an "outsized impact" on the community if left unaddressed.
Considering that agencies do not have sufficient powers to address these issues effectively, Tong said they studied what other countries have done and decided to set up the CRU.
The Community Relations Unit (CRU)
In her speech, Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann said the CRU will focus on severe neighbour noise and hoarding cases.
They will have the power to take statements, photographs, and recordings and also deploy noise sensors to investigate cases.
She explained that deploying noise sensors would be a "sensible alternative" to "possibly futile stakeouts" where nuisance-makers stop making noise when officers are present.
On privacy concerns, Sim assured that there are safeguards to ensure privacy, such as that the sensors will only be deployed with consent, either from the occupiers of a home or consent from the managing agent of a common area.
She added that while the raw data will be transmitted in real-time to Singapore-based servers for processing to prevent tampering, there will be strict access controls where the actual sounds, such as details of conversations, will not be available to officers.
The sounds will be expunged after they are processed into data, such as timing and intensity of noise events above an ambient baseline, and kept for investigations and court proceedings.
There will also be appropriate safeguards to ensure proper identification of CRU officers, such as mandatory requirements for officers to identify themselves by showing their official identification card.
Combating severe hoarding issues
Sim said that CRU will also be managing severe hoarding cases, which while not of high volume, can cause disamenities and public health risks.
She said the root causes of hoarder's behaviour are complex. For example, mental health conditions, or trauma and grief.
Given the complexity of the issue, Sim said the government took a multi-agency approach to solve the issue, but some cases remain protracted and unresolved because it is difficult to gain hoarders' cooperation to "declutter".
She said frontline officers often had to balance between the person's individual right to choose how they want to upkeep their home and neighbours' enjoyment of their own residences.
Sometimes, even when officers managed to persuade hoarders to declutter, the clutter may recur, Sim said.
Enforcement powers
To better address hoarding issues, Sim said that the enhancements empower the Director-General of Community Relations to apply for a forced decluttering order to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT).
The CDRT is maintained by the judiciary and hears disputes under the Community Disputes Resolution Act (CDRA).
Once the forced decluttering order is granted by the tribunals, officers will be authorised to enter and declutter hoarders' units.
Other than being empowered to force declutter, CRU will have standard powers for public officers who perform enforcement functions.
For severe noise cases, they can issue advisories and warnings, which don't carry penalties. However, if they are not heeded, officers can take further enforcement, such as referring the case to the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to consider the compulsory acquisition of the offender's unit.
Sim said that HDB had used such powers sparingly, and the government recognised that it is a drastic action which would only be considered if all other levers had failed and that measures are required to protect the wider community.
Pilot in Tampines
Sim said the CRU will first pilot in Tampines, explaining that as the concept of operations is new, a pilot will allow the government to assess how to scale it up in a sustainable manner.
She clarified that Tampines was chosen as it has an "average caseload" compared to other towns and will give them the necessary space to test.
They are looking to begin operations in the second quarter of 2025.
Neighbours should still try to settle themselves or with mediation first
Tong said in his speech that a pilot is necessary as the government has to be prudent with how they spend the fiscal resources and manpower.
He added that with the setting up of CRU, it is not the government's intention to be "overly prescriptive", and there must still be enough room for neighbours to settle private disputes themselves.
Tong said that cases of neighbourly disputes should first be attempted to resolve by mediation.
With the enhancements, on top of parties seeking help from the Community Mediation Center, relevant community officers will be empowered to direct disputing neighbours to attend mandatory mediation.
If all else fails
If a case remains unresolved despite mediation or CRU intervention, Tong said that the CDRT would remain the "avenue of last resort", but there will be enhancements to make it more effective.
To help the CDRT come to a decision quicker, the CRU will provide information should they have been involved in the case, and parties would not have to start all over again to prove their case.
The CDRT will also be empowered to issue a variety of orders for different situations, including the Mandatory Treatment Order (MTO) for cases involving mental conditions.
MPs raised concerns about using MTOs for community cases, but Tong clarified that it's meant to tackle the issue earlier from the root cause and to try and avoid bringing the person through the criminal process.
He also said that the priority will always be to persuade the resident to go for treatment voluntarily, and the MTO will only be a last resort.
Other than being able to better tackle cases where mental health issues are involved, the new enhancements will also allow the CDRT to deal with tenant-landlord issues and abuse of processes.
