By Nikki De Guzman:
The government will soon conduct a strategic review of town councils to provide better service to all residents, according to Senior Minister of State for National Development Lee Yi Shyan, who has been tasked to look into the issue.
The review aims to improve the way town councils are monitored and supported, for more transparency and better corporate governance.
This comes after a recent debate in Parliament between MPs and the Workers’ Party (WP) on running town councils and the handover of Aljunied GRC after the 2011 polls, reported AsiaOne.
Last December, the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council had received a poor grade for its management of residents’ arrears in their service and conservancy charges with no grade in corporate governance. The WP was also unhappy over the termination of its IT management system provided by Action Information Management (AIM) — a company owner by the People’s Action Party.
But the Ministry of National Development revealed that the sale of software to AIM abided with the law and financial regulations.
Subsequently, the Ministry recommended a comprehensive review of town councils to address similar concerns that could affect services.
Nikki De Guzman, Junior Reporter at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg
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