TODAY ONLINE : No hike, say some town councils

No hike, say some town councils

05:55 AM Mar 11, 2010

by Ong Dai Lin

SINGAPORE - Residents in at least seven People's Action Party (PAP) town councils can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

Despite rising electricity prices and maintenance costs, these town councils tell MediaCorp they will not be raising Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) for now. They are Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang, Bishan-Toa Payoh, East Coast, Holland-Bukit Panjang, Jalan Besar, Sembawang and Tampines.

This assurance comes after Aljunied and Jurong town councils revealed last week that they were increasing S&CC from next month. The town councils said that although their funds are sufficient to stave off a hike for now, a raise is inevitable in the future as costs keep growing.

Tampines Town Council chairman Masagos Zulkifli said: "We have no plans to raise S&CC fees at the moment but we are spending a lot of our funds on the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) and beautifying the place as Tampines is a relatively old town."

Mr Hawazi Daipi, chairman of Sembawang Town Council, said: "We've studied our finances and there is a need to consider increasing the fees in the future. But we want to hold on to the current fees for as long as possible ... despite the increasing costs."

To keep power bills down, the town council had in 2008 embarked on an energy-saving campaign, replacing 630 fluorescent-illuminated block signs with more energy-efficient LED ones. The lights in every other staircase landing were also turned off after midnight.

The last time all 14 PAP town councils raised S&CC was in 2004. In 2008, they had decided against another hike, following the Government's lead in freezing fees for its services because of high inflation.

Last year, because of the recession, Jurong Town Council held off increasing conservancy fees - but, MP Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) told MediaCorp, "costs incurred over the last few years mean that if we don't increase the fees … our service quality will be affected".

And yes, the town council does make use of energy-saving measures, but even so the rising costs impact each town council differently. "Some towns are newer and the cyclical maintenance costs are lower," explained Mdm Halimah.

Mr Hawazi agreed: "Their profiles and needs vary, and they will have different cost structures as well."

The other five PAP town councils - Hong Kah, Marine Parade, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Tanjong Pagar and West Coast - did not reply to MediaCorp queries by press time.

Hougang and Potong Pasir town councils, which are under the purview of the Workers' Party and Singapore People's Party respectively, also did not respond by press time.

Both had increased conservancy fees in 2007 by $2 to $9 and $2.50 to $8 per month, respectively.

Copyright 2010 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved