Town Council management report is politically motivated, says Chiam

SINGAPORE- Former Opposition Member of Perliament Chiam See Tong yesterday criticised tnhe latest Town Council Management Report (TCMR)-which showed that the town council of his former Potong Pasir ward had improved in three of the six in-dicators-as being "politically motivated''. Despite the improvements, the Potong Pasir town council remained among the worst performing according to the report, which was released last Friday. For example, while most town councils achieved a Level 1 rating for service and conservancy charges arrears managemnt, the town counils of Opposition-Held Houguage and Potong Pasir fared worst in this area. Mr Chiam, 76, had helmed the Potong Pasir ward for 27 years until the General Election-Which was held in May-when he moved out of the ward to lead a team to contest in Bishan-Toa payoh GRC. Mr Chiam and his wife lina, who had contested in Potong Pasir, were both defeated. The Minstry of National Development (MND) had said that the third TCMR- it was introduce d in 2009-covered the period from last October to March this year and was based on Pre-General Election town boundaries. Despite the MND's pronouncement that the assessment was carried out before the GE, Mr Chiam said in a media statement yesterday: ''The HDB has now decided to award Potong Pasir constituency with a consolation prize after the GE, by reporting that (it s town council) has made the biggest gains with higher scores recorded for three out of six indicators.'' Mr Chiam added that he did not believe the report. ''At all material times, I have been maintaining the estate well. (The report) is politically motivated,'' he said. When asked to repond to Mr Chiam's statement, Potong Pasir MP Sitoh Yih Pin reiterated that the ''most important thing now is for us to move forward and improve the living conditions of Potong Pasir residents''. ''We also have to... improve the overall maintenance of the town council,'' said Mr Sitoh. He added that a working committee was formed last month to look into ''why the families are in arrears'