A new company is likely to be hired to manage both Hougang SMC and Aljunied GRC, under the new Aljunied-Hougang …
The Workers' Party (WP) is set to hire a new managing agent for the Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates in Aljunied and Hougang, constituencies won over in the May General Election.
The company, FM Solutions and Services, which was set up three months ago, will operate under a new collective Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), formed by the WP in the wake of their victory at the polls.
If appointed as managing agent, the company will supervise service providers it hires to work for the AHTC in estate maintenance and cleanliness, among other areas.
According to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), one of the shareholders of FM Solutions is How Weng Fan, secretary of the former Hougang Town Council, which was also run by the WP.
The party formally took over the AHTC yesterday and is set to appoint FM Solutions as its new agent sometime this week, reported The Straits Times. It will replace CPG Facilities Management, the company operating under the former Aljunied Town Council.
FM Solutions and Services has since started hiring staff. It was registered with the ACRA on 15 May with $450,000 in paid capital, and is looking to fill a range of positions -- from technical and property officers to receptionists -- to be based at the AHTC main office in Hougang.
If FM Services is appointed to run town council services under the AHTC, it will be the first time an external company has been hired by opposition members of parliament (MPs) to do so.
Former Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong hired HDB estate management staff directly to work in his town council, as did WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang while he was in charge of Hougang.
WP chairman Sylvia Lim, also the chairman of the AHTC, said that more details of the new managing agent and the combined town council will be released soon. Her fellow MPs elected to represent Aljunied GRC in May are Mr Low, Chen Show Mao, Pritam Singh and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap.
Mr Low and newly-elected Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong are the AHTC's vice-chairmen.