Potong Pasir To Raise S&C Charges

Source : The Straits Times, Dec 20, 2007

Hike in maintenance fees ranges from 7% to almost 13% and takes effect next month
THE opposition-held Potong Pasir ward is raising its service and conservancy (S&C) charges for the first time in a decade.

Residents there will pay between $2.50 and $8 more a month, depending on the size of their HDB flat.

The increase ranges from 7 per cent to almost 13 per cent, a hike which Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong told The Straits Times yesterday is ‘reasonable’.

He said: ‘It is time for an increase because all costs have gone up. We have always told our residents that we will be the last to go up and we have kept that promise.’
The hike, which kicks in next month, comes two months after the same charges were raised in Hougang, the other opposition-held ward in Singapore.

Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang, who heads the Workers’ Party, increased charges by between 3 per cent and almost 16 per cent.

The PAP-held constituencies raised their charges in 2004, by between 2 and 6 per cent. Their town councils manage several wards collectively and the fees differ among them.

Mr Chiam, leader of the Singapore People’s Party, said in his letter to residents that the Potong Pasir Town Council had tried its ‘level best’ not to heap more burden on families by charging more.

‘But the town council can no longer absorb the increasing maintenance costs, which in the last 10 years have considerably increased,’ he said.

Despite the hike, Potong Pasir residents still pay less than those in Hougang.

For instance, four-roomers in Potong Pasir pay $49.50, two dollars less.

Mr Chiam, who heads the town council, acknowledged that some residents would not be happy with the higher charges. But he believes the unhappiness can be contained.
‘Some residents have even asked me why we have not raised the charges for so long!’ he said.

Resident Rama Shankar Singh, 44, who lives in a four-room flat in Potong Pasir Avenue 3, said the increase is not significant.

Added the civil servant: ‘There’s not much difference. As long as the estate is properly maintained, it’s fine. What else can we do, right?’