HDB residents, not just their town councils, will be under the spotlight when the Government launches its assessment of town councils later this year.

This is because the exercise aims to make HDB residents more aware of what is going on in their towns and to do something about it, says National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

Citing the example of estate cleanliness, he said it would measure not just 'how fast the cleaners work, but also how much care the residents take in keeping their town clean'.

It would be 'a way to get residents to take care of their town and make sure that it is not dirty', he noted.

Mr Mah made this point yesterday, three days after his ministry announced the impending move to assess the 16 town councils managing Housing Board estates in Singapore. The ministry will produce a report card by next year on how they fare in areas like cleanliness, facilities management and financial management.

It will be consulting residents, town councils and industry professionals on the criteria to use.

Mr Mah noted that when the report is published, comparisons across towns would be 'inevitable', but this was not the aim of the exercise.

Asked if some residents might make use of the report to raise asking prices for their flats, or avoid dirtier towns, Mr Mah said this would be 'quite understandable', as Singaporeans like to live in clean, well-maintained towns with a lot of facilities.

What if town councils were not performing up to par in certain areas? Mr Mah said it would be for residents 'to make their views known to the councils'.

He hoped town councils would work with residents to explain that if they dirtied their town, more resources would be needed for cleaning up, and service and conservancy (S&C) charges may not be enough.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.

zakirh@sph.com.sg