The UNPSA is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. It is conferred to public agencies around the world for their creative achievements and contributions towards a more effective and responsive public administration.

The UN commended BCA for its outstanding achievement in demonstrating excellence in serving the public interest and making a significant contribution to the improvement of public administration in Singapore. “Indeed, it will serve as an inspiration and encouragement for others working for public service,” they added.

The BCA Contractors Registration System was set up in 1985 as a centralised, one-stop registration system for contractors who wish to tender for public sector construction projects in Singapore. Prior to this, contractors who wished to tender for public sector projects had to register with the respective public agencies and meet different qualifying criteria.

The CRS thus provides greater transparency as contractors tendering for public sector projects here have a uniform set of registration criteria to meet. This includes relevant experiences and track records, professional and technical personnel, and financial capacity. The CRS grades and places the contractors into different types of construction work and the value of contracts that they can tender for. Public agencies would then evaluate these qualifying contractors objectively through the Price-Quality Method* before awarding to the successful tenderer. There is also a system in place for performance reporting of contractors and debarment for those who have performed poorly or been found guilty of malpractices, from tendering for public sector projects.

Mr Peter Ong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Singapore, commented, “The CRS helps to create a fair and level playing field for all contractors to participate in competitive bidding for public tenders. There is also increased accountability as all public agencies undertaking construction tenders are required to use the CRS, which the BCA administers as a neutral party. BCA’s CRS has brought about greater transparency, convenience and knowledge-sharing in Singapore’s public sector construction tendering process.”

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore’s Minister for National Development, said, “Singapore’s reputation as a country with little corruption is attained after years of intense emphasis. It requires sustained efforts from everyone and there is no room for complacency. The United Nations Public Service Award conferred to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in the category of preventing and combating corruption is a happy event to remind us of such efforts. BCA’s Contractors Registration System, a transparent one-stop system to help the public sector source for the most suitable contractors, has been noted by the UN to be a cost effective innovation in the fight against corruption. I congratulate the BCA. We are cheered by the recognition.”

Besides improving the procurement criteria of public sector projects, the CRS also serves to raise the level of professionalism and capabilities of contractors. Capable contractors with good track records are given the opportunity to rise through the ranks within the CRS and tender for public sector projects of higher value.

Dr John Keung, CEO of BCA said, “Throughout the years, we have been reviewing the CRS to raise the professionalism of the registered contractors. Contractors at the higher registration tiers, for example, need to have certified quality and environmental management systems, and their personnel are required to fulfill continuing education and training (CET) requirements. We have also been sharing our experiences on CRS with other countries that are interested in setting up similar contractors registration systems. In fact, the South Africa’s Construction Industry Development Board had modelled their national Register of Contractors and Register of Projects after BCA’s CRS.”

Dr Keung will receive the award at the United Nations Public Service Day and Awards Ceremony in New York, USA on 25 June 2012.

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The project, comprising 50 units of three-room and 332 units of four-room flats, is located near the Woodlands Regional Centre and is served by the Woodlands MRT station and bus interchange.

It is the HDB’s first project in the area in recent years. Those interested have until: June 23 to submit their applications.

The launch of the latest BTO project came even as the construction industry continues to grapple with rising costs.

:Speaking at a separate event yesterday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that the HDB is containing construction costs as much as it could, such as by simplifying some of the projects, or by combining them to enjoy greater economies of scale.

It is also using more economical materials and reducing the construction pressure by withholding some projects so that it does not add to the demand for construction, said Mr Mah during a visit to the HDB headquarters at Toa Payoh yesterday to congratulate its staff for winning the United Nations Public Service Award.

But Mr Mah assured Singaporeans that HDB flats would continue to be sold at discounted prices while the Main and Interim Upgrading Programmes will continue, reported Channel NewsAsia.

According to the HDB, the UN award is in recognition of the Home Ownership Programme, which has successfully provided over 80 per cent of Singaporeans with affordable quality flats, with 95 per cent of them owning these homes.

In his speech, Mr Mah noted that the HDB will continue to face challenges as it strives to meet the housing needs of a growing population with different needs and aspirations.

“As we welcome a larger and more diverse population into our fold, the challenge for HDB is to find innovative ways to accommodate everyone in a comfortable way, without compromising our living environment and social cohesion.

“We will need to ensure that public housing can help achieve the twin objectives of meeting the housing needs of the majority of the population, as well as providing a social safety net for lower-income Singaporeans,” Mr Mah said.

And with the growing ageing population, the HDB “will need to focus on meeting the housing needs of the more vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and the lower-income, so that they can level up with the rest of the population,” he added. -AGENCIES

Source : Today – 11 Jun 2008

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HDB said the award is in recognition of the Home Ownership Programme, which has successfully provided over 80 per cent of Singaporeans with affordable quality flats, of them 95 per cent own these homes.

Describing it as a significant milestone in its history, HDB said the award represents the international community’s recognition of Singapore’s public housing programme.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan visited the HDB headquarters at Toa Payoh on Tuesday to congratulate the management and staff on this achievement.

In his speech, Mr Mah spoke on the dual challenges of providing for more vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the lower-income, as well as making HDB flats attractive to more well-off Singaporeans.

He also felt that a shared experience of HDB living was important to developing a collective Singapore identity.

HDB’s “Remaking Our Heartland” programme is set to give new, middle-aged and old HDB estates a major makeover, to turn them into “vibrant homes.”

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 10 Jun 2008

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HDB is doing this by simplifying some of the projects or by combining them so that there are more economies of scale. A recent example is the Punggol Sapphire project which has more than a thousand units against the usual number of some 500 units per project.

But Mr Mah assured Singaporeans that public flats would continue to be affordable, despite the rising costs. The pace of HDB upgrading under the Main and Interim Upgrading Programmes will also not be affected by rising costs.

Mr Mah was speaking to reporters on Tuesday after an event to congratulate the HDB for winning the United Nations Public Service Award.

HDB said the award is in recognition of the Home Ownership Programme, which has successfully provided over 80 per cent of Singaporeans with affordable quality flats, of them 95 per cent own these homes.

While the challenges for public housing today may be different, they are no less formidable than those faced by the HDB when it started Singapore’s public housing programme in 1960.

HDB said flat buyers now have varying aspirations. There is also the challenge of differing income levels. So the HDB will continue to meet the housing needs of the majority as well as lower income Singaporeans.

Mr Mah said: “Someone with an income of S$1,000 to S$1,500 is eligible to rent a flat. But I would much prefer that they would own a flat, even if it is a small flat because from there, they can build a base, earn some assets and later on when they do well in life, they can upgrade.”

Mr Mah added that another challenge is to rejuvenate the older housing estates so that Singapore maintains the quality of living in these estates and the value of the flats.

But HDB’s immediate task is to tackle rising costs as the construction industry has not been spared from the global phenomenon of increasing prices of raw materials.

He said: “Raw material prices and energy prices have increased. All these are feeding through into the construction cost index for the moment. What we have to do first is to manage the costs as much as we can by simplifying some of the projects or by combining them so that there are more economies of scale, (and) by using more economical materials.”

Mr Mah said that the government is also helping to reduce the construction pressure by withholding some projects. But the minister added that the government does not expect a major delay in the completion of the two mega integrated resort projects due to rising construction costs. – CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 10 Jun 2008

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