Aljunied Residents ask Inconvenient Questions

Aljunied residents caught in the middle of the AHPETC Town Council report, start to ask inconvenient questions ...

Fed-up with non-answers from those that they had voted to represent them, Aljunied residents want straight answers from their Town Council issue. The numbers are large, the issues serious and the WP can no longer say this is a “storm in a teacup.”

From Surplus to Deficit: The town council lost $4 million in 3 years. How? From a surplus of $3.3 million to a deficit of more than $700,000. What happened?

Sky rocketing arrears: Why did arrears in Aljunied climb so fast and so far? This is the same pattern that we saw in Hougang now repeated in Aljunied. Nearly 30% of residents now don’t pay their bills. Is this really a “compassionate” approach? How does the town council assess who gets a waiver? How is this “compassionate” for the two-thirds who are forced to subsidize the others?

Murky Agent fees: The AHPETC pays 50% more to its managing agent than neighboring town councils eg Tampines Town Council. Why? Why is their agent so much more expensive?  For the past three years, the people of Aljunied have had many questions. Were the hawkers made to pay for the cleaning of their ceilings? Did the town council call the police on the shopkeepers who petitioned against too many trade fairs held by the council? Why do they pay so much for the husband and wife team who are the managing agents for the town council?

To date, there have been no answers. These questions have been dismissed by the Worker's Party as “baseless”, or blamed on “handover issues.” However, where is the money that the people pay in S&CC  going to each month? How well is it managed?

 

The people of Aljunied deserve answers. The shopkeepers deserve fair and transparent treatment. And it is time the Worker’s Party faced up to the truth.

Demanding answers is not politicization. It’s standing up for what is right.