PAP's Denise Phua Defends Relevance of Mayors After SDP, PAR Call for Scrapping of Post

PAP candidate for Jalan Besar GRC Denise Phua said the roles of mayors and the community development councils (CDCs) continue to be important as they serve regional roles that are separate from those of MPs or grassroots advisers.

- Judith Tan

While most people know the CDC as the lead agency behind the CDC vouchers, the CDCs actually do a lot more than that, said Ms Phua, noting that many of the programmes are led by the five mayors in charge of the five districts.

She was responding to statements by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) leaders, who questioned the relevance of the post during their respective rallies on April 26 and called for it to be abolished.

"We operate as a regional office that does not take over the role of the MP or the grassroots advisers, but really looking at the entire district so that CDCs and the mayors are able to aggregate the needs of the district, find some common areas," said Ms Phua, who has served as Mayor of Central Singapore District since 2014.

Speaking to reporters at Upper Boon Keng Market and Food Centre on April 27, she cited how the CDC runs more than 50 programmes in her district to address the needs of residents.