WE REFER to Mr Gilbert Goh Keow Wah's letter, "Delay hike in town-council fees" (my paper, March 11).

We thank him for his suggestions, which are also areas that we have been exploring actively in our efforts to manage rising maintenance costs.

Mechanisation to raise productivity and reduce labour costs, and bulk purchases for economies of scale, have indeed been among the items on the top of our priority list in the past years in the upkeep of our estates.

Both Aljunied and Jurong town councils have not revised their service and conservancy fees for the past five years since October 2004 and January 2005, respectively, despite increases in operating costs.

After deliberations, the councils decided that it would be better to revise the charges from next month than wait any longer, as costs would escalate further and the increase in charges would then be steeper.

Mr Goh's feedback is appreciated. We will continue to explore all avenues to manage costs and improve productivity.

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