Government to create framework for assessing town councils

The National Development Ministry is seeking the views of residents on how they want town councils to be assessed.

The idea of a Town Council Management Report was first announced last December, when National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan spoke of creating a framework of Key Performance Indicators for the councils.

The ministry said the aim of the report is to give residents information about their estate, so they can better understand "some of the challenges and trade-offs involved in managing their town".

The report will also allow them to compare against other estates. Broad criteria to be included are cleanliness of the estate, maintenance, and how funds are managed. These could be expanded over time.

Town councils said the report would help identify areas where they are not doing well and they hope that with a better understanding of how a town is run, residents can give more constructive feedback.

Teo Ho Pin, coordinating chairman, PAP Town Councils & Mayor of North West Community Development Council, said: "For every service we provide to residents, it's based on how much service charge we collect.

"There is a certain constraint as to how much resource or finance we can put in to manage the town. So I think there must be a balance in expectations, the maintenance standards and the performance of town councils."

The ministry has met with all 16 town councils, and three public consultation exercises will begin from the end of this month, with the participation of HDB residents and council representatives.

A framework for the report will be announced in September, while the first set of results will be out in 2010.

Town councils were created 20 years ago to give residents more say in local estate matters and to foster a stronger community spirit.

At that time, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) also realised that a centralised management system did not sufficiently cater to local needs.
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia