Trapper's Swamp

Aljunied and Jurong Town Councils are set to increase the service and conservancy (S&C) charges in April.

With electricity prices and maintenance costs going up, at least two town councils, Aljunied and Jurong, will raise their Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) next month.

The hike will impact flats, shops, offices and market and hawker stalls.

For Singaporean households in Housing Board flats, the hike per month will range between 50 cents for a one-room flat and $4.50 for a five-room flat.

While the two town councils were clear that they did not increase the charges due to botched investments in Lehman-linked financial products, they did not indicate any willingness to be more transparent in revealing their costs of maintaining the estates. What is clear to me is their need to meet performance criteria that were set after the blow-up caused by the ill-considered investments that cost a cool $16 million in public funds.

This was not lost on the residents that were interviewed.

Residents MediaCorp spoke to want more clarity. "Neighbours complain the estate is still dirty. With the increase, I hope for more transparency on the targets achieved," Aljunied resident Reynold Seah said.

Jurong resident JF Yeo said: "Any fee increase so soon after a recession cannot be good news. The town council should at least show us that our money will be put to good use."

Where public funds are concerned, there should be more transparency. Residents deserve to know where their money is being spent, and town councils need to be accountable to the residents by not using the funds in non-related investments. Setting a KPI for town councils is nothing but bureaucratic appeasement unless those indicators are revealed to the public, and paying residents are given the full picture in the running of the twon council.