PAP, WP spar over changes to Town Councils Act

SINGAPORE — After almost four years in the making, amendments to the Town Councils Act that give the Ministry of National Development (MND) more power to investigate suspected irregularities, among other changes, were passed in Parliament yesterday.

Opposing the Bill, Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Workers’ Party (WP) slammed the amendments over the new powers that will be given to the MND, and this in turn drew sharp criticism from the People’s Action Party MPs.

Under the new laws, the ministry will be able to periodically conduct compliance reviews of town councils, appoint inspectors (who may be public servants or professionals) to conduct the reviews, and order the town councils to take remedial actions. Previously, the MND did not have the authority to get town councils to submit any information beyond annual financial statements, or to intervene where there is non-compliance detected.

The new powers of oversight have the potential for abuse and “would not necessarily ensure good outcomes for Singapore, but rather politically good outcomes for the ruling party”, argued WP MP (Aljunied GRC) Pritam Singh during the debate.

Fellow Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim said corporate governance experts have noted that having town councils report to the MND is “problematic”, as the Minister and his deputies are also involved in running town councils. “Is the Minister a suitable gatekeeper, with these massive conflicts of interest?” Ms Lim asked. She also asked if it was tenable for public servants to be inspectors of town councils run by, say, the Minister for National Development or the Prime Minister.

Instead, the WP proposed having the Auditor-General’s Office pick a few town councils each year to audit. And an independent housing tribunal chaired by a judge should be set up to mediate and adjudicate disputes between town councils, residents and agencies such as the MND, Housing and Development Board and National Environment Agency.

In response, Tanjong Pagar MP Chia Shi-Lu said the WP should not keep playing the “persecution card” while Punggol East MP Charles Chong said the amendments were not targeting non-PAP town councils, only improper management of town councils.

Senior Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee said Ms Lim’s “allegations” about public servants went “a bit too far”. He pointed out that the then-Aljunied Hougang Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) had resisted the court application by the MND to appoint independent auditors to “look into its difficulties”, even though Ms Lim spoke about the need for independent oversight.

Mr Lee said: “While town councils continue to have broad autonomy and latitude in deciding how best to manage the estates under their charge, the Government also has the responsibility to put in place a framework of good governance and accountability and to request for information, investigate and intervene, when the trust is breached or when things go wrong.”

The amendments put in place safeguards to enable the MND as regulator to exercise more effective oversight of town councils on residents’ behalf. “Autonomy does not give you a blank cheque to run down the town council or the estate, misuse funds, mismanage the system, or break clearly established rules,” said Mr Lee.

The extra powers for the MND granted by the changes arise from the “unspoken compact” — which began when town councils were formed in 1989 — being “broken”, he said. It was that town councillors and elected MPs would proactively fix problems that arise or report suspected misdeeds to the police or Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

But in AHPETC’s case, he said, the town council did not take decisive steps to rectify financial management lapses despite findings from its external auditor, the Auditor-General’s Office, the High Court and the Court of Appeal, among others.

Other amendments clarify that town councils are not to carry out commercial activities that are not related to their core function to manage common property. Town councils must submit audited statements within six months of the end of the financial year to the MND, and must have stronger internal controls to prevent potential conflicts of interest.