Tampines Town Council has deployed additional cleaners to parts of the estate following service failures by a newly appointed contractor. The lapse in cleanliness was attributed to a shortage of workers, leading the council to impose liquidated damages on the firm responsible.
Contractor Failures and Resident Impact
On April 1, Ban Chuan Trading and Engineering assumed cleaning contracts for three of the five divisions within the Tampines GRC: Tampines North, Tampines Central, and Tampines Boulevard. Shortly after the transition, residents reported that bulky items and bins were not being cleared in a timely manner.
Residents in Tampines Boulevard described several instances of neglect during April. Mr. B. Ram Nangina, 63, noted that small furniture and cartons were frequently left near letterboxes. Similarly, 48-year-old Ms. Lena Cheng observed canned drinks left on the floor of her void deck, though she suggested that some issues might stem from residents dumping litter on the floor while cleaners were performing their duties.
The issues gained public attention via a TikTok post on April 23, which depicted clothes, cardboard boxes, bottles, and canned drinks strewn around a void deck alongside overflowing bins. While a visit to the area on May 5 showed that litter had been cleared, a worker on-site noted he had only been hired the previous week.
Root Causes of Service Lapses
Baey Yam Keng, the Town Council chairman, Member of Parliament for the area, and Minister of State for Transport and for Culture, Community and Youth, explained that the failures were caused by a combination of factors. He stated that the new contractor suffered from “a higher level of migrant worker shortage, which severely affected service delivery in some areas.”
This shortage was further complicated by outgoing contractors who were winding down their manpower as their contracts ended. Mr. Baey emphasized that “both scenarios should not have happened,” confirming that the Town Council is imposing liquidated damages on the contractors for these performance lapses.
Corrective Measures and Outlook
To address the immediate cleanliness issues, Ban Chuan has implemented the following measures:
- Hiring temporary cleaners to manage daily operations.
- Deploying extra back-up cleaners in the evenings to address any remaining cleaning lapses.
- Collaborating with the Manpower Ministry and the town council to expedite the hiring of more workers.
Mr. Baey reported that while the town council saw a higher volume of cleanliness-related feedback in April, the number of reports has since begun to decrease. He urged residents to assist in keeping shared spaces clean and stated, “The town council team will continue to monitor the situation closely and respond promptly to residents’ feedback.”
Looking ahead, the stability of cleaning services in these divisions may depend on the successful arrival of new workers, who are expected in the coming weeks. If hiring is expedited, service levels could return to normal; however, the town council may need to maintain temporary staffing if worker shortages persist.
