Update on Coordination of Services since Launch of Municipal Services Office

The following question stood in the name of Er Dr Lee Bee Wah –

To ask Minister for National Development (a) how has the coordination of services been since the launch of the Municipal Services Office; and (b) which Government agency should be contacted when there is a python found in a monsoon drain and the AVA would not act as the drain is not under their purview.

Since the Municipal Services Office (MSO) was set up in October 2014, there has been an improvement in the delivery of municipal services. The average time taken to respond to cases involving multiple agencies has been reduced by nine days, from 21 days in October 2014, when MSO was set up, to 12 days in June 2016. The proportion of cases which required referrals to multiple agencies has also dropped from 13% to 9% in the same period. This reflected an improvement in work processes and better understanding of the partners' area of responsibility.

These improvements were made possible through the efforts of MSO and the partner agencies. Some of the specific work initiatives included the introduction of OneService App which allowed feedback to be given without knowing or identifying the agency responsible for the problem and the appointment of lead agencies to deal with groups of municipal issues.

For example, public greenery maintenance has been centralised under the National Parks Board (NParks) since June 2015; the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been appointed as the First Responder for feedback on maintenance of connectivity-related infrastructure since June this year.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has also been appointed the First Responder for animal issues since 2012. Members of public can contact AVA for all animal-related issues, including feedback on the presence of a python in a monsoon drain. AVA will coordinate efforts with the relevant agencies, including external partners such as animal welfare groups, to resolve the problem and be the lead agency to reply to the feedback provider.