Sengkang Town Council to directly manage town after tender for managing agent fails to draw any bids

SINGAPORE — Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) will directly manage all divisions under Sengkang town after it failed to engage a managing agent, even though the Workers' Party-run town council had called for an open tender "well in advance of the expiry date", it said on Tuesday (May 17).

The tender exercise, which began on April 8 and closed on April 29, received no bids, said the town council in a statement posted to its Facebook page.

The announcement follows past moves by WP town councils to self-manage the opposition-held wards, after a lengthy trial found that senior party leadership breached their fiduciary duties to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC).

The protracted AHTC case involved WP’s decision to appoint a managing agent consisting of its own party supporters, which was deemed by the court to be a conflict of interest. Since 2015, AHTC has been self-managed by the town council.

On Tuesday, SKTC, which was established in 2020 to manage Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), said that it had called a tender for managing agent services for three divisions within the GRC in April as a matter of prudence.

This was in advance of the end-2023 expiry date for the current managing agent.

But it had received zero bids despite this, said the town council.

The GRC comprises four divisions in total — Buangkok, Compassvale, Rivervale and Anchorvale — that had come from wards held by the ruling People's Action Party before the 2020 General Election.

Buangkok, Compassvale and Rivervale were formerly part of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Punggol East Single Member Constituency (SMC), previously managed by EM Services under Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.

The Anchorvale division, formerly Sengkang West SMC, was previously managed by CPG Facilities Management under Ang Mo Kio Town Council.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the article stated that the Workers’ Party had appointed a managing agent consisting of its own party members in the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council case. This is incorrect.  The managing agent consisted of party supporters. We are sorry for the error.

The four-member constituency was won by the WP in the 2020 General Election. The GRC is now represented by three Members of Parliament after its former MP Raeesah Khan resigned prior to a Committee of Privileges inquiry into breaches of parliamentary privilege last year.

Currently, the Anchorvale division is directly managed by SKTC since the expiry of its contract with CPG Facilities Management last year.

Buangkok, Compassvale and Rivervale divisions are being managed by EM Services, whose contract is due to expire on Jan 31 next year, the town council said.

The town council had inherited the management agent contracts when it took over areas that used to be part of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and Ang Mo Kio Town Council following the General Election.

Day-to-day operations of the Anchorvale division have been handled by workers hired directly by SKTC since Oct 31 last year, the town council added.

The decision to move into direct management of the Buangkok, Compassvale and Rivervale divisions was deliberated and voted on by Sengkang's town councillors "given the circumstances", SKTC's post stated.

The town council also said that EM Services will continue to provide its services until the expiry of its contract next year.

“With the experience gained from directly managing Anchorvale division, and more than eight months to the handover of the Buangkok, Compassvale and Rivervale divisions from EM Services, SKTC is confident of a smooth transition, and its ability to deliver the standards of service that Sengkang residents have come to expect,” the town council said in its statement.