Municipal Services Office ready to help

The much-anticipated one-stop office to handle municipal matters that involve multiple government agencies has been officially opened, with more details on two initiatives it announced last month.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu, who heads the Municipal Services Office (MSO), yesterday said it would use "smart technologies" to make it more convenient for Singaporeans to provide feedback on municipal issues.

In a Facebook update, she revealed that a smartphone application which the office said it is developing will be ready by the start of next year.

With the application, people will be able to snap photos of trouble spots, tag on location information and send them directly to the MSO, so it can respond to complaints quickly, she said.

The MSO is also developing an "integrated system" that will help different agencies share and monitor complaints on municipal matters, so they can work together to resolve the cases, revealed Ms Fu.

For a start, it will work with eight agencies: the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, national water agency PUB, National Parks Board, Housing Board, Land Transport Authority (LTA), the Singapore Police Force (SPF), People's Association and the National Environment Agency.

The MSO's establishment was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the National Day Rally in August. The office serves to ensure that public agencies improve their coordination when providing services that involve more than one of them.

It will come under the Ministry of National Development.

Ms Fu, who recently visited the SPF and LTA to find out more about how the agencies handle feedback on municipal issues, said she would be visiting the six other agencies in the next few months.

She wrote in the Facebook post: "The MSO has been set up! Visited my team at the new Municipal Services Office earlier this morning. Happy to meet the officers, all enthusiastic and passionate about the mission of MSO."

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