The Workers' Party (WP) is looking to set up a new town council for Sengkang GRC, instead of merging it with the existing Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.
"We believe Sengkang has the economies of scale for it to be a standalone town council," said WP chief Pritam Singh at a virtual press conference yesterday.
"That's our approach and preference going forward, subject to further meetings with the existing managing agents."
The WP won the new Sengkang GRC at last Friday's polls, garnering 52.13 per cent of the votes.
In 2011, the town councils for Aljunied GRC and Hougang were merged following the general election, when the WP first wrested Aljunied GRC from the People's Action Party.
When WP subsequently won the Punggol East by-election in 2013, it further expanded the town council to become the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council.
But there were teething issues in the 2011 handover which had a lasting impact - a lawsuit by the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council against its town councillors is now still on appeal after the court found WP MPs liable for damages suffered by the town council.
Asked if the party was anticipating handover issues in Sengkang, such as if the current managing agent pulls out, Mr Singh said: "I don't want to prejudge the situation, but what I would and can say is we haven't met the existing managing agents yet, so I think we want to go into discussions in good faith... and we'll take it from there."
The new MPs for Sengkang GRC are lawyer He Ting Ru, 37; economics associate professor Jamus Lim, 44; social enterprise founder Raeesah Khan, 26; and equity research analyst Louis Chua Kheng Wee, 33.
Team leader Ms He thanked residents for having faith in the WP, and gave an update on how the new MPs could be reached.
Saying Meet-The-People Sessions cannot be held due to the Covid-19 situation, she added: "If any residents have any questions or need help, please e-mail us at sengkang@wp.sg as one of us will get in touch with you about your problems or your questions."
Yesterday, the WP's Sengkang team was spotted on a walkabout at Rivervale Plaza, where they greeted residents.
Prof Lim was seen making notes on an iPad as he chatted with residents.
He was noting down concerns over town council matters, citing the example of a complaint about mosquitoes at a block, adding: "We want to be immediately responsive to all these considerations. As Pritam suggested, that is our first order of priority - to focus on making sure that this transition occurs in as smooth a fashion as possible."
The party also said that until the town is gazetted and it takes over, residents should continue to contact their current town council - Ang Mo Kio or Pasir Ris-Punggol, depending on their neighbourhood - on municipal matters like infrastructure and cleanliness issues.
WP chairman and Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim also said yesterday that there would be a reorganisation of the MPs helming wards in her constituency, which the WP retained with almost 60 per cent of the votes.
The team includes Mr Singh, Ms Lim, and Mr Faisal Manap, who are embarking on their third term as Aljunied GRC MPs.
Mr Leon Perera and Mr Gerald Giam have replaced party veterans Low Thia Khiang and Chen Show Mao, who have stepped down.
There will be no change to Mr Singh's Eunos ward, or to Mr Faisal's Kaki Bukit ward. But Mr Giam will take over Mr Low's former ward at Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, while Ms Lim will now helm Paya Lebar, instead of Serangoon. Mr Perera will take over the Serangoon ward, said Ms Lim.
She added: "This is just an internal allocation of work to make it more convenient for residents to approach the MPs primarily in charge of the divisions concerned."
