Opinions about Town Councils

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/viewPost6318.aspx
yewteeman said on 25 Oct, 2007
Due to the vast area under the town council and it is not possible for the TC property officers to cover all area so it is better for TC act upon ''feedback''. This will keep the property officers happy to enjoy the aircon in the office.

If you do write to them, you will receive a reply like this:

Thank you for your feedback.In future, please write to the TC directly at feedback@jbtc.org.sg

greenpea said on 25 Oct, 2007
yewteeman said on 25 Oct, 2007 Due to the vast area under the town council and it is not possible for the TC property officers to cover all area so it is better for TC act upon ''''feedback''''.

True to some extend. the officer will not be able to cover the whole zone; ie check every blk, every floor, everyday.dont'' forget, the officer''s duty is not limited to chking of blk. the scope for TC officers are actually very very wide.

inaddition, they HAVE TO stay in office; to do paperwork! otherwise, how to issue work-orders, payments, reports, etc, to contractors???

happy5263 said on 25 Oct, 2007
Yes agree that town council officers can''t keep an eye on a vast area. They should inform the cleaners of the estate/blks to feedback to TC if they find clutters in void decks,vandalism or anything out of the norm. Give them some incentives for doing so and that''ll be a win win situation for all concerned. That''ll make residents not to complain about the bad service of TC and its officers.

cerebrum said on 26 Oct, 2007
These flyer/locksmith stickers create excessive workload for the cleaners. The common areas bear nasty sticky mark upon removal of advertisements. The cleaners are not to be blame. It is quite a challenge for a thorough removal of these advertisements which been glued firmly on common areas. All Town Councils in Singapore should penalize these flyer advertisers / locksmith advertisers for the offence of vandalism. That would serve as deterrence. The fine money collected would also help ease the respective Town Council’s burden in additional cost of work force and maintenance.

The HDB residents did not glued these advertisements on the common areas. Therefore, it would be unfair to all HDB residents if the additional maintenance cost lead to an increase in conveyance fees.

yewteeman said on 26 Oct, 2007
Does RC have any role to play in providing feedback to TC since RC members are living in the HDB blocks within their respective RC zone.

Is the scope of RC members include feedback to TC other than organising activities for residents to "score points" for their MP?

greenpea said on 26 Oct, 2007
to ans some of the qns posted1) RC, by right, represents the residents and are the eyes on the ground. Their role involves feedback to TC on any things they feel is not right, or to assist residents to convey their feedback.

2) most TCs will only call up the perosn on the flyer to ''warn'' them. However, TC do not carry out the tedious process of i) tracing the number of the person''s hp number with all 3 telcos. ii) issue a summon of only $50-100 (depending on TC) to the person, and incur the extra charges/time of the searching process

cerebrum said on 26 Oct, 2007
Do all Town Councils truly find it a tedious process to penalize? Is Aljunied Town Council guilty of being that? The fire tragedy in Hougang should not have happened.

All Town Councils should be more vigilant, it is the Town Council responsibility!

A Town Council is there for a purpose, it should execute the necessary process however tedious it could be. Nowadays, a HDB block could be 4 storeys to 40 storeys. By multiplying the number of offences per floor, the fine money collected could be quite a substantial amount.

greenpea said on 26 Oct, 2007
cedsac2003: well spoken.

TC ground officers don''t have it easy too. and not all are "staying in office enjoy aircon/shake leg" as many stompers had commented. unless one is in the line, you may never know the problems they are going thru. Balancing politics from MP, residents complaints, and trying to be ''understanding'' while still have to enforce; all at the same time.

well, in every line, there''s bound to be some black sheep that really shake leg... haha...peace :)

cerebrum said on 26 Oct, 2007
Cedac2003:- I admire your strong stand in speaking up for the Town Council. Still, I thought it is unnecessary to ‘curse’ on a next generation.

Greenpea:- In every occupation, there bound to be stress and difficult task.

That should not be an excuse for any Town Council. However, I do agree with your view, in reality, there bound to be some black sheep in an organization. Many stompers would agree that is the purpose of STOMP, to detect and eliminate the ‘black-sheep’.

singaporeboleh said on 14 Nov, 2007
Town Council By Laws stated that:

Display of signs14. No person shall display or cause or permit to be displayed any sign on any common property or in any open space except with the approval of the Town Council.

It is the JOB of the TC to enforce the rules empowered to them by the Laws.

singaporeboleh said on 14 Nov, 2007
To greenpea said on 26 Oct, 2007 to ans some of the qns posted

I search the PA sites and found the Roles of RC as:

Residents'' Committee The Residents'' Committees (RCs) in public housing estates promote neighbourliness, racial harmony and community cohesiveness among the residents within their RC zones. Run by residents for residents, the RCs also work closely with other PA grassroots organisations like the CCCs and selected government agencies to improve the physical environment and safety of the local precinct.