PAP town council increasing conservancy charges!!!

[globalcookie]

Originally Posted by hkh

cannot la......wait foreigners come they got nothing to show off leh......

Foreigners? The tour buses always brings tourist to Merlion... what's so nice abt merlion? What's e attraction?

Nvm who they need to host... just get e ministers to bring them to Merlion park will do lo

[streetsmart73]

Originally Posted by hkh

cannot la......wait foreigners come they got nothing to show off leh......

Singapore flyer, gardens by the bay, sungei buloh etc mah

[hkh]

Originally Posted by streetsmart73

Singapore flyer, gardens by the bay, sungei buloh etc mah

those are for locals and tourists........they need a place to call home and can hold gala state dinners........free from commoners........

[globalcookie]

PAP TCs to increase conservancy charges from 1 June as second-tier increment
Published on 2018-05-31 by Correspondent
It has been announced earlier that service and conservancy charges (S&CC) at all 15 People's Action Party (PAP) town councils (TCs) will be increased from tomorrow (1 Jun) for the second time in two years.

The 15 PAP Town Councils involved are:

Ang Mo Kio
Bishan-Toa Payoh
Chua Chu Kang
East Coast-Fengshan
Holland-Bukit Panjang
Jalan Besar
Jurong-Clementi
Marine Parade
Marsiling-Yew Tee
Nee Soon
Pasir Ris-Punggol
Sembawang
Tanjong Pagar
Tampines
West Coast
PAP TCs have said that the increase is to "keep up with rising maintenance costs". The increase will affect HDB flats, shops, offices, markets and cooked food stalls.

Phased over two years, the second tier increase takes effect tomorrow:

HDB flat owners - $0.50 to $8 per month
Commercial property owners and tenants - $0.05 to $0.21 psm per month
Market and food stalls - $2.50 and $17.50 per month
So in all, the increase to the S&CC over the two rounds of increment can be said to be:

HDB flat owners - $1 to $17 per month
Commercial property owners and tenants - $0.14 to $0.48 psm per month
Market and food stalls - $5.20 and $40.50 per month
"The adjustments will enable the PAP town councils to build up their Sinking Funds to replace old lifts, undertake essential cyclical maintenance and component replacements, and carry out the Lift Enhancement Programme," PAP TCs said.

"Expenditure requirements in these areas are significant and will continue to grow as our estates get older."

Residents who face difficulties paying their S&CC will be assisted, PAP TCs added.

In addition, the government would also provide S&CC rebates to HDB dwellers but only for 2-3 months.

Ang Mo Kio Town Council Funds increase to $159 million

Meanwhile, according to the latest annual report from Ang Mo Kio Town Council which is under PM Lee's GRC, its total TC funds have increased from $154 million in 2016 to $159 million last year (FY ending at 31 Mar).

The greatest increase comes from the accumulated surplus contributed by HDB flat owners, from 3.6 million to 6.5 million or about close to 80% increase.


Editor's note - Before anyone comes to use lift upgrading to justify the increase of S&CC charges, I note that the lift upgrading seems to be only an upgrade of the lift cabin and not the motor. The expense involved is not of a scale of constructing a new lift. One will have to ask how much exactly does the TC spend on its lift upgrading per flat and how much more does it pay to maintain its lift. Also, it is the problem of the residents if HDB chooses a poor manufacturer, such as the Sigma lifts, which results in high maintenance cost?

Also the TC mentioned "Expenditure requirements in these areas are significant and will continue to grow as our estates get older.", I can't say much for lift maintenance but for block cleaning fees, while the cleaning companies may increase their fees, the cleaners at the blocks may not see an increase to their pay. Foreign workers work long hours and pay commission to their agents to come Singapore. As reported earlier, cleaners at town councils can be working as long as 16 hours and 7 days a week with as little to $700 a month. It is unknown if the situation has gotten any better but it is unlikely that the cleaning companies will be increasing the fees appropriately according to how much they pay their staff.

Much transparency is needed with the TCs as you can hardly get any public information on their tenders and awards to contracts, unlike the GeBiz system. TOC's stance if any is for the TC management to revert back to Housing Development Board to save cost for the residents and to remove politicking via the use of citizen assets as "hostage".

--------------------------

Has running the estate's cost increase so much over the years? I see lesser cleaners than before. A lot of lights in the estate has been changed to save power, and solar panels installed on a reverse payment mode (pay for what is used than pay for the project itself).

[byfun]

Most fedup is doing unnecessary maintainence work .. like hack away perfectly good floor tiles and relay again. Spme shelter kena demolish and rebuild with just a 5 to 10% additional space.

All these unnecessary renovation cost ... end up as increment to us !

[globalcookie]

Reminds me of M'sia... every other year do this or that, or replace old with new, but some of these ain needed to replace.... end up....

My area.... now they are changing street lamps (carpark) to LED.
Some years back, they changed from T8 to T5 lights, than change to power saving tubes (something like double tube, where 1 is dim and sensor will light up fully when it detects movement)...

[millenium]

Originally Posted by byfun

Most fedup is doing unnecessary maintainence work .. like hack away perfectly good floor tiles and relay again. Spme shelter kena demolish and rebuild with just a 5 to 10% additional space.

All these unnecessary renovation cost ... end up as increment to us !

I feedback two hazard spots in a park for elderly, nparks replied me wait one month they will revamp whole park. Till now already three months still no progress. The two spots can be rectify with some cement easily.

[globalcookie]

Originally Posted by millenium

The two spots can be rectify with some cement easily.

Tell them, they need to be spoon fed! These ppl are just complacent cos they are e gov and can do as they wish!

Imagine drain holes/covers choked with sand and leaves.... not 1 but whole road. Feedback once, told them that it must be cleared periodically... and it happened again in just half year. Had to tell them again. Next time I'll tell them I'll let LHL and Halimah knows so they can come and clear it since they are servants of the state.

But what to do??? A country run by someone that is NOT FIT TO BE PM! Singapore has slide down e slippy slope

[millenium]

Originally Posted by globalcookie

Tell them, they need to be spoon fed! These ppl are just complacent cos they are e gov and can do as they wish!

Imagine drain holes/covers choked with sand and leaves.... not 1 but whole road. Feedback once, told them that it must be cleared periodically... and it happened again in just half year. Had to tell them again. Next time I'll tell them I'll let LHL and Halimah knows so they can come and clear it since they are servants of the state.

But what to do??? A country run by someone that is NOT FIT TO BE PM! Singapore has slide down e slippy slope

There is an lta construction near my place, that knock in the middle of the night. I complain to them numerous times till i said i am fed up, going ask minister for help, then only they stop. The way they taichi around, fortunately i am firm and not confused by them.

[hkh]

Hawker Centers also every now and then shut down for interim upgrading.......after that rent starts to increase too.....