The People’s Association (PA) came under Ms Sylvia Lim’s scrutiny in Parliament on Wednesday (April 13), with the Workers’ Party chairman questioning its “ever-increasing” budget and whether it had drifted from its mandate, which includes fostering social cohesion.
Speaking on the first day of the debate on the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s (MCCY) budget, Ms Lim said it was understandable that the PA’s FY2015 budget was much larger than usual because of the SG50 activities that were organised and the building of facilities for residents.
However, the Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC questioned its budget for FY2016, which stands at nearly S$900 million.
“(It is) still very high… This is a significant 34-per-cent increase from FY2014. How is the high expenditure justified?” Ms Lim asked.
Turning to the PA’s mandate, Ms Lim said she believes that some of the association’s activities have deviated from its objectives, which include “fostering cohesion and bonding, and … promoting group participation that transcends sectional loyalties”.
“An unhealthy culture seems to have developed within some quarters of the PA, who see its role to include advancing the ruling party politically and undermining the work of Opposition MPs,” Ms Lim said.
She pointed to the mobilisation of PA activists to campaign for the ruling People’s Action Party’s candidates during elections as “just one aspect”.
Ms Lim said that when MPs from the Workers’ Party try to advance their residents’ welfare through infrastructural projects, they learn that government bodies, such as the Ministry of National Development (MND) and the Housing and Development Board, recognise only PA organisations — such as Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCCs) and Residents’ Committees – as the “proper channels”.
Citing an occasion when she was seeking information from the MND on plans for private-estate upgrading projects in her ward, Ms Lim said: “The ministry referred me to the CCC. I then wrote several times to the CCC, but it seems that my letters do not even merit a reply.”
A total of 24 MPs and four Nominated Members of Parliament rose to speak on the MCCY’s budget on issues ranging from helping the Malay-Muslim workforce retrain and stay economically relevant, nurturing homegrown athletes, to promoting corporate giving and volunteerism.
The debate on the ministry’s budget continues on Thursday.
Source: www.todayonline.com
