CALL FOR CDC JOB AGENCIES

The PAP wants to beef up the councils so that they can help residents find jobs — a key issue in the coming polls, says PM

By LYDIA LIM and ALICIA YEO

The People's Action Party wants to strengthen community development councils (CDCs) to become job-matching agencies at the local level.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said last night that the General Election must be fought at both national and local levels, and elaborated on the role of CDCs.

If they can play the job-matching role successfully, they will give the PAP "a tremendous advantage" because "other parties can't offer this service", he said.

"In this bad time, better vote for an MP who runs a CDC, who can help you look for jobs should you be retrenched," he said in his first press conference since returning from the Apec summit in Shanghai.

It is important to fight the election at the local level because if the PAP forms the Government on Nomination Day tomorrow, the opposition will use the by-election strategy to its advantage, he said.

The party's local platform will include the upgrading of Housing Board estates, hawker centres and other facilities.

The anxiety over jobs is the issue that, in Mr Goh's words, " hands over this election".

When asked about CDCs in opposition wards, he said they will also try to play their part.

However, they will have "less influence" when they approach employers to source for jobs as they are headed by advisers to grassroots organisations, not MPs.

"If you have an MP in charge or a GRC with a minister in charge, employers are more willing to tell you what vacancies they have," he said.

But he was quick to give the reassurance that residents of opposition wards who cannot find jobs can turn to neighbouring CDCs, which will help them.

Some of the island's nine CDCs already work with the Manpower Ministry to hold job fairs for their residents.

The CDCs, first mooted by Mr Goh in his 1996 National Day Rally speech as a way to foster community bonding, have since April taken over some of the work of the Ministry of Community Development and Sports, such as dishing out financial help and developing family and child-care centres.

Mr Goh said that at the national level, the Nov 3 election is about renewing the party for Singapore's benefit. That is why he has brought in the maximum number of new candidates — 25.

He also said the election is important to him personally as he must ensure a good team is in place by 2007 or he will have failed in his job.

Last night, the Government also took steps to ensure the speedy implementation of its $20-million Economic Downturn Relief Scheme.

Mr Chan Soo Sen, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Prime Minister's Office and Health), briefed grassroots leaders, who will be in charge of disbursing the money to residents in need.

Part of the Government's $11.3-billion package to save jobs, retrain workers and aid families in need, the scheme is a targeted approach to helping the unemployed.

Needy families will get $200 a month for three months to help them pay for food, transport and school.

Citizens'consultative committees (CCCs) — grassroots bodies located in every constituency — will decide which families deserve aid.

Mr Chan, who chairs a committee to oversee how the fund is used, said families living in private property can also apply for help. So far, more than 80 families have done so.

The scheme is supposed to kick off on Nov 1, but CCCs have already been given $10,000 each for families in urgent need of financial help.

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