|
•
|
“Cut
Red Tape” is the commonly used phrase
to describe the “More Vision, Less Bureaucracy” (MVLB)
Movement to the general public. Why? We figured
the public need not know about the “More
Vision” part, and MVLB is a really hard
acronym to explain! |
|
•
|
Until
2001, LTA had the responsibility of ensuring
access through backlanes, but was not empowered
to remove common obstacles such as altars or
old furniture as unauthorised dumping on state
land came under the purview of the Singapore
Land Authority. This reduced the response time
of the Public Service to public complaints.
Now the scope of LTA’s Streetworks Act
has been expanded to address this problem. |
| • |
Birds
becoming a nuisance is the most common cross-agency
problem cited by the public. The National Environment
Agency (NEA) is the agency leading the ZIP
(Zero-In-Process) team handling all bird nuisance
issues. Such issues come under ZIP because
they often involve several agencies. For example,
NEA shoots crows but not mynahs because the
latter are not considered vectors of disease.
The agency also regulates the dumping of rubbish
(a source of food for the birds) in hawker
centres. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority
is responsible for bird and animal protection
and has to “de-protect” bird species
in order for people to shoot them. The National
Parks Board plants the trees in which the birds
nest. The Housing and Development Board’s
flat designs
can influence bird roosting patterns. |
| • |
One ministry managed
to remove 59% of the rules reviewed during
Phase
I of its Rules Review Process! |
| • |
One third of the
statutory declaration requirements of the Government
will be removed by end FY 2003. |
| • |
Rules
don’t
always come in the form of legislation, regulations
or Instruction Manuals (IMs). They can also
be rules of thumb. For example, 45% of the
suggestions received through the Public Officers
Working on Eliminating Red-tape (POWER) initiative
were not IM-related. |
