Steady drop in number of Cut Waste ideas over the years
Lin Yanqin
[email protected] IT STARTED out with a bang in 2003, receiving wide support from the public for its aim in cutting public wastage.
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But response to the Cut Waste Panel (CWP) — which draws on suggestions from the public — has cooled down significantly over the past four years.
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Just 205 suggestions were received last year, compared to 1,207 in 2004 — an 80-per-cent decrease in volume.
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And up to the middle of last month, the panel has received just over 70 suggestions — less than half of the number received last year, according to latest figures released yesterday.
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Still, with over 3,300 suggestions received to date, the CWP has managed to create once-off savings of $8.7 million, and recurrent annual savings of $2.9 million — a total of about $11 million in all.
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Meanwhile, savings by government agencies under the Economic Drive (ED) have also dipped over the years.
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Some $560 million, about 1.7 per cent of all the agencies' total cash budget, was saved in the financial year of 2006. In comparison, savings totalled $602 million in 2005 and $736 million in 2004.
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So far, the ED — including the savings from the CWP — has saved the Government some $2.5 billion since 2003.
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Over the years, various agencies have agreed with some 85 per cent of the suggestions received, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) yesterday in a statement.
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Of the accepted suggestions, 96 per cent have already been implemented by the agencies. The remaining are in the process of implementation, or will be in force soon.
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New suggestions last year include opening up one of the competition pools at Toa Payoh Swimming Complex — usually reserved for competitions and trainings — to the public when there are no bookings and trainings committed.
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Most of the ED efforts, according to MOF, revolved around simplifying requirements, standardising to minimise costly customisation, and sharing resources and avoiding duplication.