New municipal office to help bridge inter-agency issues

SINGAPORE — When one resident observed that a fishball stick along the walkway at Bukit Gombak MRT Station had not been cleared after two days, it took Member of Parliament (MP) Low Yen Ling “multiple calls to several agencies and a few meetings” to find out why the area appeared not to be regularly cleaned.

The reason? “On the left of the walkway is a slope, (which is overseen by) the NEA (National Environment Agency); in the middle is a park connector, under NParks (National Parks Board); on the right is a pavement next to the road, under the LTA (Land Transport Authority),” said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

As the cleaners engaged by each of these agencies have different cleaning schedules, “the fishball stick was on the roadside, and the roadside is only cleared every two days”, he said.

The incident was an example of how the Government still has some way to go in getting different agencies to work more closely together, especially when responsibilities are split, despite previous efforts to address this, said Mr Lee at the National Day Rally last night. For example, the question of what to do with a snake spotted on the street used to depend on the direction in which it was moving, but all animal-related issues are now handled by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

Although she has since got the NEA to take charge of the entire area, Mr Lee noted that it had been a “frustrating and difficult experience” for Ms Low, who is Mayor of South West District.

“Can you imagine if you are an ordinary citizen trying to solve such a problem and running around with different agencies?” he added. “It’s not the way we should be operating, and we have to do better to bridge these inter-agency boundaries and serve the public in an integrated way.”

To that end, Mr Lee yesterday announced the setting up of a Municipal Services Office (MSO) under the Ministry of National Development, which will coordinate several government agencies and “single-mindedly focus on service delivery”. The agencies are the LTA, NEA, NParks, national water agency PUB, the Housing and Development Board, the AVA and the police.

Such a set-up exists in other countries, such as the Brazilian Operations Center in Rio de Janeiro, which is an operations centre in the Mayor’s office. It is manned by 50 officers and coordinates the activities of more than 30 municipal and state departments, as well as private utility and transportation companies. Its officers monitor cameras around the city and are able to act quickly in the event of a disaster or traffic accidents. Operations managers also monitor data feeds concerning weather, traffic, the police and medical services. By integrating data from agencies and companies, they get a full picture of what is happening at any time.

Ms Grace Fu, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, has been appointed to oversee the MSO and she will be working with National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, said Mr Lee. More details will be announced in the coming weeks.

MPs whom TODAY spoke to welcomed the move. Ms Denise Phua of Moulmein-Kallang GRC said officers must go to the ground to understand the concerns more deeply. “(They) must have a shared vision and key performance indicators in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, so the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts,” she added.

However, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Zainal Sapari, who is also chairman of the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, noted that town councils were not mentioned in the MSO framework.

“Currently, town councils have an Essential Maintenance Service Unit hotline that residents can call to give feedback and ask for maintenance,” he said. “It would be convenient for residents (if there is) one number to call to reach agencies as well as the town council itself. Then, it is up to the back-end office, the MSO, to channel the issue to the relevant offices.”

While the Government will try to do a better job with the MSO, Mr Lee said citizens “also have a role to play to play in making ours a better home”. For instance, feedback on problems on the ground can be sent to the authorities via various apps, such as the LTA’s MyTransport.SG and the NEA’s myENV.

“You can also be part of the solution, being our eyes and ears all over Singapore,” he said.