Situation in West Coast GRC more stable, several months after Iswaran’s conviction: Desmond Lee

SINGAPORE - The situation in West Coast GRC is a lot more stable than it was a year ago, and its MPs have stepped up to make sure there are no gaps in service despite being one MP down, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee.

He was responding to questions about the situation on the ground in the group representation constituency, more than a year after it emerged that former transport minister S. Iswaran was being investigated for corruption.

Iswaran, who was subsequently arrested and charged, had been in charge of the West Coast ward in the GRC. Mr Lee oversees the Boon Lay ward in the same GRC.

“We had to deal with a very unfortunate situation where Mr Iswaran had to face law enforcement measures. This is the transparency and level of accountability that we demand of ourselves – ensuring that the system remains transparent, that we continue to uphold integrity,” Mr Lee said in an interview with the media on Jan 13.

“(The situation on the ground is) certainly a lot more stable. People who are concerned about what has happened have now seen the process run its course.”

Mr Lee said he and the other MPs in West Coast GRC – Mr Ang Wei Neng, Ms Foo Mee Har and Ms Rachel Ong – have stepped up to look after residents’ needs.

Noting that residents were concerned that there would be a vacuum in service, Mr Lee said the West Coast team has been on the ground, continued to run Meet-the-People Sessions and conducted outreach engagements.

“We have stepped up to make sure that there are no gaps in service,” he said.

Iswaran was

sentenced to 12 months’ jail in October 2024

after pleading guilty to five charges – four counts of obtaining valuable items as a public servant and one charge of obstructing the course of justice.

Mr Lee said in an interview in December 2023 that Iswaran’s corruption probe

had a big impact on West Coast GRC

.

Asked about his state of mind going into the next general election, Mr Lee said he will continue to focus on supporting residents in the GRC, particularly in areas such as cost of living and rolling out community programmes.

At the ministry level, “there’s still a lot of work to be done”, despite having launched the new flat classification system and other measures on the Build-To-Order market such as the priority category for parents and married couples and stricter non-selection rules, he added.

These measures take several years to develop, and even when launched, the authorities have to monitor their outcome such as by holding focus group discussions.

“Those responsibilities continue, and even as the political tempo goes up, we still must focus very much on the things we’ve introduced,” he said.