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Town councils could be barred from organising night markets, trade fairs

SINGAPORE — Activities that town councils are barred from carrying out, and the governance and accountability standards expected of them have been spelt out in proposed legislative changes tabled in Parliament on Monday (Feb 6).

SINGAPORE — Activities that town councils are barred from carrying out, and the governance and accountability standards expected of them have been spelt out in proposed legislative changes tabled in Parliament on Monday (Feb 6).

Commercial activities that are “inconsistent with their statutory functions”, such as running night markets and trade fairs in the constituency, for instance, are not allowed under the Town Councils (Amendment) Bill, which came about after a review of the statute kicked off in May 2013.

Town councils must also meet more stringent reporting requirements in relation to their audited financial statements, as well as key personnel they appoint.

The Bill also gives the Ministry of National Development (MND) more teeth to make town councils comply with the laws, by allowing them to send officers in to conduct periodic reviews and to issue rectification orders, and to issue more serious sanctions for offences.

The Bill maintains the autonomy and latitude given to town councils while strengthening their governance and regulatory framework, said the MND.

“The Bill will improve transparency and performance, and require greater accountability from town councils and their key management personnel, to give residents the confidence that the housing estates are properly managed, and that service and conservancy charges monies are put to good use for their benefit,” the ministry added.

Proposed changes include requiring the secretary of a town council to keep a register of disclosures of conflict of interest faced by town councillors, committee members, secretary and staff. The register must have details on the person involved, the nature of the conflict and steps taken to resolve it.

Auditors and managing agents are also disqualified from taking on key positions in their respective town councils — something the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) had allowed previously.

Town councils will also be required to submit their annual audited financial statements within six months from the end of the financial year “to ensure timely presentation to Parliament and the public”. The current practise is to do so “as soon as practicable”, although the AHPETC had submitted its statements late on four occasions since 2011.

Currently, town councils can be fined for lapses only in three areas: Failure to provide information to an auditor, misuse of sinking and operating funds, and rules relating to the Lift Upgrading Programme.

These have been expanded to cover another nine areas, including cooperation with MND-appointed investigators in their compliance reviews and investigation, and obeying rectification orders.

The Bill seeks to allow the MND to appoint inspectors — Housing and Development Board (HDB) staff, public officers or suitably qualified individuals — to periodically conduct reviews and investigations to ensure that town councils are complying with regulations.

“The inspectors are empowered to enter the town councils’ premises, require individuals to provide information and to produce documents relating to the town council’s affairs,” said the MND.

Fines remain in the range of a maximum of S$1,000 and S$5,000. But for more serious offences such as ignoring a compliance directive or a rectification order by the MND, a jail term of up to 12 months can be imposed on the chairman or secretary of a town council.

Town councils were introduced in 1989 to give elected Members of Parliament more authority and responsibility over the HDB estates in their constituencies.

A review of the Town Councils Act was first announced in 2013, after the MND investigated the People’s Action Party-owned company Action Information Management (AIM) — which provided software to PAP town councils — and found that there was no misuse of public funds or conflict of interests between any town council members and the company.

Back then, the ministry had proposed a “strategic review” on the roles and functions of town councils, against the backdrop of them becoming politicised.

In the following year, the then-AHPETC was fined S$800 for flouting the Environmental Public Health Act by holding a Chinese New Year fair in Hougang Central without a permit. Under the proposed amendments, such fairs cannot be carried out by town councils anymore.

In 2015, Parliament debated a motion on an Auditor-General’s Office audit report, which found deficiencies in the AHPETC’s financial and accounting systems, record-keeping and safeguards, then-National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan told the House that the “light-touch” approach under the Town Councils Act was no longer tenable, and the MND would address the weaknesses in the town council regulatory framework.

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