The Marsiling-Yew Tee Town Council on Tuesday (Jan 21) clarified that it did not make a police report which led to the arrest of a resident who owed Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC).
A warrant of arrest was ordered by the court in December 2016 after the woman did not turn up for a court hearing regarding her arrears of S$2,150.
In a Facebook post by socio-political activist Gilbert Goh, he wrote that he was approached by the woman’s brother for help and that he “felt shocked” to learn that the woman who had a 16-year-old son was arrested at her office.
While he also added that she stayed in the police lock-up for close to 10 hours before being released, the police said that the woman was arrested on Dec 14, 2017 and she was held for 1.5 hours.
In a Facebook post, Marsiling-Yew Tee Town Council shared that: “the Town Council sent out a total of 6 notifications by post between December 2016 and October 2017 and conducted house visits in August 2016 and November 2017 in our attempt to reach out to the resident.
Upon further engaging the resident, partial payment of the S&CC arrears was made, and the resident signed an installment plan on 19 December 2017”.
According to what the woman told Mr Goh, she worked as a sales promoter earning a monthly salary of about S$1,000. He added: “each time she couldn’t pay the monthly instalment of $159, the town council will send in a legal reminder which costs about $200 – further aggravating the S & C default”.
The Town Council’s full statement:
Marsiling-Yew Tee Town Council (MYTTC) would like to make the following clarifications regarding a few articles shared via social media concerning a resident living in a 5-room flat.
The resident has been in arrears for Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) for several years, which despite attempts at engaging the resident, the Town Council unfortunately had to undertake legal recourse.
In December 2016, a warrant of arrest (WOA) was instructed by the Court when the resident did not attend a mandated court hearing.
To avoid subjecting residents to a Court-instructed arrest by the Warrant Enforcement Unit, the Town Council proactively sends separate notifications to the resident to appeal for their cooperation to contact the Town Council for an instalment plan with the aim of withdrawing the legal proceedings.
In this case, the Town Council sent out a total of 6 notifications by post between December 2016 and October 2017 and conducted house visits in August 2016 and November 2017 in our attempt to reach out to the resident.
Upon further engaging the resident, partial payment of the S&CC arrears was made, and the resident signed an instalment plan on 19 December 2017. The Town Council immediately withdrew the court proceedings and updated the Warrant Enforcement Unit on the same day.
At no time did the Town Council lodge a police report to arrest the resident for S&CC arrears.
The Town Council has been actively helping the resident over the past few years. The latest instalment plan made in November 2019 allowed the resident to gradually pay off the S&CC arrears while keeping up with the current monthly payment. The Town Council will also work with grassroots partners to further assist the resident.
The Town Council would like to encourage residents who face difficulty with their S&CC to approach us early so that we can work together to avoid the arrears from growing.
We would like to thank the public for the feedback and we trust that the above clarifications will help to address the concerns raised.
Read related: Single mum arrested at her office for having unpaid Service and Conservancy Charges