The Municipal Services Office (MSO) will be set up on 1 October 2014 to improve the government’s overall coordination and delivery of municipal services.
The office will be part of the Ministry of National Development (MND), and, Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Foreign Affairs, Grace Fu will oversee the MSO.
Municipal services include maintaining and improving communal living environments in Singapore, such as managing the cleanliness of public areas, horticulture maintenance, and maintaining and repairing transport infrastructure.
Over the first six months, the MSO will work with key government agencies to improve feedback management and customer service for these municipal services. These agencies are HDB, Land Transport Authority (LTA), National Environment Agency (NEA), National Parks Board (NParks), PUB, Singapore Police Force, People’s Association (PA), and the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).
The MSO, together with these agencies, will fine-tune current processes to manage and address public feedback on municipal issues, and more agencies may be included if required.
In the longer term, the MSO will review service standards and improve operational processes. This would include analysing feedback and identifying areas where multiple agencies need to work together better to resolve complex cases in a timely manner.
Government agencies and Town Councils will continue to take charge of their domain areas so that the public can be served directly and effectively.
“The MSO will, however, help government agencies to resolve municipal issues, particularly in areas where multiple agencies are involved in a more efficient and coordinated manner, and in turn help improve the living environment for Singaporeans,” MND said in a statement yesterday.
Image (by ProjectManhattan; Wikimedia Commons): The MSO will look into common municipal issues such as matters relating to fallen trees or branches, tree pruning and grass-cutting issues.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
