The Sengkang GRC took to Facebook on Thursday (8 October) to provide an update on the status of handing over the Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) to the Workers’ Party (WP).
“Thank you to the senior management teams at EM Services and CPG Corporation for the joint meeting and for reiterating your commitment towards serving SKTC and our residents,” it said, adding that it is at the final stage of the handover.
“We look forward to working closely with #TeamSengkang during this final stretch leading to the completion of handover!”
The post also include an image of the three Member of Parliament (MP) who are representing Sengkang GRC, which include Jamus Lim, He Ting Ru and Louis Chua. Raeesah Khan is the other MP who is part of the four-member team of WP who won the constituency in the recent general election.
The background
On 22 July, the Ministry of National Development (MND) revealed that the management of a lawsuit commenced by the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) will be handed over to the SKTC as the former Punggol East SMC has become a part of Sengkang GRC, after the WP’s team won in the recent general election.
The lawsuit was initiated by PRPTC against WP chairman Sylvia Lim, former party chief Low Thia Khiang and six other defendants in the High Court. It came after the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) had taken the same defendants to court.
Initially, Punggol East was handled by AHTC from 2013 to 2015. However, in GE2015, the People’s Action Party (PAP) won back the constituency. In GE2020, the electoral boundaries were redrawn and Punggol East became part of Sengkang GRC.
PRPTC and the WP town councillors are appealing against a High Court decision which ruled, among other things, that Ms Lim and Mr Low had breached their fiduciary duties to the town council.
In response to the handover of lawsuit, the MP for Sengkang GRC He Ting Ru on 24 July said the SKTC will ensure that “all decisions taken in relation to the management of the ongoing lawsuit are fair, transparent and in accordance with the law”.
Earlier, The Straits Times reported that the appeal hearing involving AHTC has been postponed as the SKTC on 10 August had requested for a six-week adjournment to allow for “sufficient time” to consider its legal position on the case.
In the letter written by Ms He to the Supreme Court Registry, she said that the outcome of the appeal hearing and any judgment of the Court of Appeal “will bind SKTC and, therefore, ultimately affect the residents of Sengkang whose interests we must safeguard”.
“We consider it prudent to obtain legal advice relating to the steps SKTC ought to take (if any) including whether to file an application for intervention and if so, the legal position to take,” she added.
If that’s not all, SKTC also announced on 8 September that an Independent Panel was appointed to make all decisions relating to the pending appeals, involving PRPTC from various court decisions, which will be transferred to SKTC on 28 October this year.
The Independent Panel comprising of three distinguished persons, namely Mr Kenneth Tan Senior Counsel, Mr Lok Vi Ming Senior Counsel and Dr Kevin Tan, were appointed on 5 Sept under section 32(2) of the Town Councils Act.
