Users of OneService app can now track progress of feedback on municipal issues

SINGAPORE — Users who have given feedback on municipal issues using the OneService application can now keep tabs on the agency assigned to their cases and track their progress.

Since Tuesday (Oct 24), status indicators such as “acknowledged”, “working on it” and “closed” have been reflected on the app.

The OneService app, launched by the Municipal Services Office (MSO) in January 2015, allows the public to flag municipal issues. Over 100,000 users have been registered, reporting around 130,000 cases.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu, who oversees the MSO, told reporters common issues relate to cleanliness, parking and damaged infrastructure such as potholes. They range in complexity.

Ms Fu was speaking at the Municipal Services Awards ceremony.

“On the surface, it’s a cleanliness issue, but sometimes it’s because (of) persistent littering. It could be someone trying to feed pigeons from a few storeys (above-ground, causing) high-rise littering... But in the longer run, we’re looking at data to inform us better about the root cause of such cases... and then we have to go in and solve such complex cases (though methods including) enforcement,” said Ms Fu.

Other upgrades to the app include a push notification centre, which shares case updates and weather information with users.

A complementary Web portal, rolled out in September last year as another feedback and information channel, has also been revamped to include several new features. For instance, users can find a list of activities happening in their neighbourhood, such as the National Parks Board’s guided nature walk and Youth Corps volunteering opportunities.

“Building greater awareness is the first step towards building engaged and active communities,” said Ms Fu.

The awards ceremony recognised 11 teams and four individuals for helping to solve “complex, cross-cutting” municipal issues.

Award recipients included a team of volunteers from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), Save Our Street Dogs animal welfare group, People’s Association and grassroots volunteers.

The team organised a walkabout in July last year at Punggol Park Connector – a hot spot for stray dogs – to raise awareness over sightings.

Eleven public officers and volunteers hit the ground with collaterals, educating residents on how to react when they encountered stray dogs - avoiding eye contact and turning away slowly, for instance.

Residents were also taught that stray dogs were not necessarily aggressive.

From around 185 complaints received by the AVA between October 2015 and June 2016 before the walkabout, the number fell to around 85 between January and September this year.

A group of National Environment Agency and People’s Association officers, as well as grassroots volunteers, also bagged an award for reaching out to the Aljunied Crescent community during the Zika virus outbreak in August last year.

Around 200 grassroots volunteers and public officers were deployed after a case was reported there. Over two weeks, they distributed mosquito repellent to every household and checked for breeding sites.

“We had people who asked us, ‘I have a mosquito bite. Is it the Zika virus?’ We could only ask them to see the doctor to check,” recounted MacPherson Citizens’ Consultative Committee chairman Eddie Woon.

Volunteers also created a database of pregnant women in the area and kept tabs on them until the births, after which they presented the mothers with customised baby rompers.