3 town councils given lower ratings for arrears management in service and conservancy charges: MND
www.channelnewsasia.com
Ng Hong Siang
29 Jun 2022 07:52PM (Updated: 29 Jun 2022 09:28PM)
SINGAPORE: Three town councils have been handed lower ratings for Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) arrears management in the latest operational report released by the Ministry of National Development (MND) on Wednesday (Jun 29).
The three - Chua Chu Kang Town Council, Jurong-Clementi Town Council and Sengkang Town Council - received "Amber" ratings in the category for FY2021.
They were banded “Amber” as the town councils had 40 per cent to less than 60 per cent of the monthly collectable S&CC for the town overdue, or the households that owed arrears for three months or more was between four and less than six in 100 households.
The other 14 town councils were in the "Green" band for FY2021.
To be in the "Green" band for S&CC arrears management, the overdue monthly S&CC should be less than 40 per cent, and fewer than four in 100 households should owe arrears for three months or more.
In response to CNA's queries, a spokesperson from Chua Chu Kang Town Council said that a key contributor to the town council's S&CC arrears remaining "elevated" in FY2021 was the lag effect resulting from the delay in homeowners moving into their new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats.
"From 2020 to 1Q 2022, more than 1,200 BTO flats came on stream in the non-mature estate of Chua Chu Kang. Many BTO flat residents typically pay their S&CC fees only upon moving in, after 3-9 months of renovations.
"The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant and protracted disruptions in the home building and renovation sector, which has in turn resulted in BTO homeowners taking a longer time to renovate and occupy their flats."
The spokesperson said that the town council helps residents keep up with their payments by sending reminder letters to alert them of any outstanding arrears.
Its town council officers also engage with residents on the ground to clarify questions and offer assistance, including the option for financially strapped residents to pay by instalments, the spokesperson added.
Sengkang Town Council said that the "Amber" banding it received points to the "deeper, underlying challenges" residents are facing in managing the rising costs of living.
"We have been working very closely with our residents to manage collections of the monthly S&CC," it said in response to CNA's queries, adding that it is focused on "designing repayment schemes that are practicable" for its residents.
The town council said that it sends out regular reminders to inform residents of "the wide array of services" that their S&CC contributions go towards.
CNA has contacted Jurong-Clementi Town Council for comment.
IMPROVED PERFORMANCES COMPARED TO PREVIOUS FINANCIAL YEAR
In its news release, the National Development Ministry noted that town councils' performances improved compared to FY2019.The assessment for town councils was suspended for the period April 2020 to March 2021 due to the electoral boundary changes following Singapore's General Election in July 2020 and the disruption faced during the "circuit breaker" period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All town councils achieved the "Green" banding for the other three indicators in the management report: Estate cleanliness, estate maintenance and lift performance.
Assessments are given using three colour bands - green, amber and red.
To be given a "Green" rating for estate cleanliness or maintenance, town councils must have fewer than four counts of cleanliness or maintenance observations per block on average.
For lift performance, town councils have to ensure that there are fewer than two lift faults per 10 lifts each month, and less than one hour of downtime per lift each month.
