EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE OF REDHILL TOWN COUNCIL

Abstract

Amidst the much reported success of the pilot Town Council scheme, it may be an entirely different form of management in ensuring the smooth running of public housing estates once the actual Town Council scheme is implemented. This is because during the pilot scheme, much support in terms of finance and administration have been given to the Town Councils by the government. However in the actual scheme, Town Councils are left on their own with minimum government support to run the estates. To-date, Phase I and Phase II Town Councils have been completed. This dissertation aims to evaluate the performance of Redhill Town Council which was established under Phase I. Redhill Town, one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore comprises three constituencies, namely Telok Blangah, Bukit Merah and Leng Kee. It took over from HDB the management and maintenance of the town on 1 June 1989. The evaluation is primarily based on four criteria. Investigation is first conducted to examine the profile of the residents which can help the town council to formulate suitable policies for its residents. A survey was carried out to seeks residents' feedback on the opportunities and participation in town. This helps to determine whether the town council has sufficiently catered for residents' participation in running of their estates. Residents' opinions of the standard of cleanliness and management of estates by Town Council was examined. This would indicate whether there is a drop in standard since Town Council took over. A discussion followed to examine how Redhill Town Council tackles some maintenance problems and ways taken to conserve and enhance the living environment. The fourth criterion seeks to evaluate the financial performance of Redhill Town Council. An analysis was done on the arrears in service and conservancy charges of Redhill as compared with other town councils. This would review the efficiency of Redhill Town Council in collecting its main source of income. The annual budget was analysed taking into consideration government grants and different arrears positions.