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TOWN councils are set to come under the spotlight every six months from next year, when a report card is put out on how well they are running their HDB housing estates.
The likely frequency was disclosed yesterday by Senior Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu yesterday.
She also said that the 16 town councils (TCs) are likely to be assessed in five areas, which will be kept simple and easy to measure.
She was speaking to reporters after holding a discussion with a panel of experts on what should be on the list of criteria, grouped under three categories: cleanliness, maintenance of facilities and financial management.
Her ministry, which oversees public housing, is planning to introduce a Town Council Management Report (TCMR) regularly, to provide a framework for TCs and residents to discuss how they can improve their estates further, if necessary.
Explaining the form of the report, Ms Fu said HDB officials will go round the estate and give the TC grades under each criterion.
The TCs will not be ranked but will be banded, which could be in the form of A, B or C. But no decision on the banding has been made yet.
Ms Fu gave some possible measures.
For cleanliness, it could be the number of litter spotted; for maintenance, it could be the number of defects or lift breakdowns; for financial management, it could be how the TCs manage the arrears of residents in service and conservancy charges.
Yesterday, the panel of experts visited the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC to get a sense of what TCs face in managing an estate.
Ms Fu also gave town councils some ideas on how they can do better.
She also said she wants the report to foster closer communication between the town councils and residents so that they can work together to improve the estates.
Town councils should not aim for top marks in the TCMR. It could lead to higher costs, she added.
Mr Zainudin Nordin, chairman of the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council, said the half-yearly assessment might take some getting used to at the start but it is still a reasonable timeframe.
'We're required to do a good job anyway. We just have to maintain it and be ready all the time,' he said.
Mr Sam Chow, 32, a sales manager, has been living in Clementi West Street 1, which is under the West Coast Town Council, for 20 years. He said: 'Making the town councils account every six months will mean greater accountability, which will definitely benefit residents. It will make the town councils try to do a better job.'
However. Ms Wong Ee Hui thinks otherwise.
Said the 33-year-old financial adviser, who lives in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC: 'I don't think the frequency really matters unless the estate is really dirty. Perhaps the town councils should publish annual reports in simple language.'
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