Minister Lui Tuck Yew announced in March that the government plans to pay for the increase of another 450 public buses. It did not announce the cost to taxpayers as there would likely be a public outcry.
Two years earlier, the government had announced a taxpayer funded BSEP for 550 buses costing $1.1 billion. As with other projects, cost overruns are now the norm.
Based on the cost of the original BSEP of 550 buses, expansion of the BSEP will likely require an additional $1 billion. The final bill for our PTO’s incompetence will exceed $2 billion, provided there are no more nasty surprises. Maybe they will pull a fast one like the overused increased costs which ultimately all commuters L L also must accept.
CNA interviewed an unknown Assoc Prof Chin from NUS who sounded more like a PTO spokesman. Prof Chin strongly believes that the reason for our lousy service is due to the low fares commuters are paying when he says “cheap is not good, good is not cheap”. Hmm…doesn’t he sound like one incompetent minister?
Chin was actually taking a swipe at ordinary Singaporeans as he should know we need to source for cheap items for our daily needs. So most of the things we buy are not good because they are cheap, according to him.
But what about our politicians and civil servants who are certainly not cheap, being the most highly paid in the world? Since Singaporeans have been receiving lousier service every year from our not cheap public servants, it appears Chin is spouting nonsense. Perhaps Chin is not aware that ‘not cheap is also not good, not good is also not cheap’.
Is Chin is hinting to Minister Lim Swee Say to change his “cheaper, better, faster” tagline?
Swee Say must be very upset on reading Prof Chin’s comments.
Our overcrowded public transportation problem cannot be resolved by throwing tax dollars to increase the number of buses. There are physical limitations to growth which the government ignores in its pursuit of economic growth through population increase.
The PAP government has rewarded our PTOs with $2.1 billion for their failure but have been very ‘kiam siap’ when it comes to helping needy citizens. Will more tax dollars be dropping from heaven for our PTOs?