No by-election in Sengkang after Raeesah Khan’s exit, 3 remaining MPs will stay on: Sylvia Lim
SINGAPORE - There will be no by-election in Sengkang GRC following the resignation of Ms Raeesah Khan, said Workers' Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim on Thursday (Dec 2). Ms Khan's Compassvale ward will be divided up between the remaining three MPs, Ms He Ting Ru, Associate Professor Jamus Lim and Mr Louis Chua, who will continue to serve the constituency. WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap, who is an MP for Aljunied GRC, will serve as an adviser to the Sengkang team. Speaking at a press conference, Ms Lim said the residents of Sengkang had given the WP team a mandate to represent them at last year's General Election. The law is clear that a by-election can be called only if all the MPs in a constituency resign, she said. The Court of Appeal had ruled in 2019 that no by-election needed to be called in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, after Madam Halimah Yacob stepped down as MP in 2017 to run for the presidency, she noted. Said Ms Lim: "We have three MPs in Sengkang still there to do the work, and it is the party's responsibility to take this through for the remainder of the term, so that is what the party will do." More on this topic Related Story WP leaders knew in Aug Raeesah Khan had lied, deci...
All bus interchange Covid-19 clusters closed, 99% of public transport front-line workers vaccinated: LTA
SINGAPORE - All eight bus interchange Covid-19 clusters have been closed, with the last cluster at Tampines Bus Interchange having closed on Oct 15, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Tuesday night (Oct 19). This was around two months after the first two clusters involving bus interchanges, at Bishan and Sengkang, were announced on Aug 14. By Sept 7, a total of 537 cases had been linked to eight interchanges across the island, and on Sept 10, LTA said that commuters should be prepared to wait longer for some buses, as a few hundred drivers were down with the virus, or placed under quarantine or stay-home notice. On Tuesday, LTA's spokesman told The Straits Times that as at Oct 16, about 99 per cent of public transport front-line workers had been fully vaccinated, while a total of 49 bus drivers from the various interchanges were still recovering from the virus. They comprised 14 drivers from Tampines bus interchange, one from Boon Lay, four from Jurong East, eight from Clementi, six from Toa Payoh, nine from Punggol, five from Sengkang and two from Bishan. The spokesman added that the waiting times for most of the bus services had been maintained, without significant impact...
IT glitch prevents Sengkang Town Council from receiving cash for conservancy payments
SINGAPORE - The new Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) has been unable to receive cash payments for service and conservancy charges at its offices, due to a glitch in its IT system. The problem was discovered after the Workers' Party-run SKTC on Wednesday (Oct 28) took over the full management of estates in Sengkang GRC that were previously under two People's Action Party-run town councils. In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday night, SKTC said staff at the town council found at 8am on Wednesday morning that "configurations for the front end collection systems were not in place". As a result, the town council could not take cash payments for S&CC. The problem was not resolved as at 6pm on Wednesday. "During our engagements with the existing IT Vendor for the Town Council Management System (TCMS), we were assured of the functionality of the system. However, the staff of SKTC noted at 8am this morning that configurations for the front end collection systems were not in place," the statement said. It added that SKTC was "working closely with the IT vendor to restore operational functionality of the TCMS as soon as possible". The town council also apologised to residents over the inconveni...