SINGAPORE — Sengkang Town Council received a lower rating for Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) arrears management in the latest operational report released by the Ministry of National Development (MND) on Thursday (June 22).

The town council got an “amber” rating out of three colour bands in the category for financial year (FY) 2022, with green being the top grade and red representing the worst.

The “amber” rating is given when a town council has 40 per cent to less than 60 per cent of the monthly collectible S&CC for the town overdue, or if the households that owed arrears for three months or more were between four and less than six in 100 households.

Arrears refers to money that is not paid by its due date for accounts such as loans and mortgages.

“While (Sengkang Town Council) had less than four in 100 households that owed arrears for three months or more, the monthly collectible S&CC for the town overdue was slightly more than 40 per cent,” MND said.

The other 16 town councils were in the “green” band for the category.

To get the "green" band", town councils must have an overdue monthly S&CC of less than 40 per cent, and fewer than four in 100 households should owe arrears for three months or more.

Sengkang Town Council also received an “amber” rating in the category for FY2021, together with Chua Chu Kang Town Council and Jurong-Clementi Town Council.

All 17 town councils scored "green" in the other three indicators — estate cleanliness, estate maintenance and lift performance.

MND said the town councils’ performance has improved compared with FY2021.

To get a "green" rating for estate cleanliness or maintenance, town councils must have fewer than four counts of cleanliness or maintenance observations per block on average.

For lift performance, town councils must ensure that there are fewer than two lift faults per 10 lifts each month, and less than one hour of downtime per lift each month.

For the operational report, town councils are assessed based on estate inspection observations made by the Housing and Development Board, lift data as tracked by the Telemonitoring System and S&CC arrears reports submitted by the town councils.

In a media statement following the MND report, Sengkang Town Council said that it has been working very closely with the residents to manage the collection of monthly S&CC.

It added that the town council “remains focused on designing repayment schemes that are practicable for our residents, taking into account of their personal circumstances as well as the economic environment”.

It also also said that the town council has steadily improved in its management of S&CC arrears, moving from the lower-end score of the amber band in FY2021 to the upper-end in FY2022.

"Since December 2022, SKTC has consecutively been in the green band," it said.

"As a relatively young town council that has recently transited into direct management, (Sengkang Town Council) would like to convey its appreciation and recognise the efforts of our various stakeholders — our residents, staff, contractors and partners — in doing our part for Sengkang." CNA