Singapore clinches UN awards for public service efforts

SINGAPORE, July 5 (Bernama) -- The Subordinate Courts of Singapore and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) received the prestigious United Nations (UN) Public Service Award, while the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) received a special award in the UN e-Government Survey in New York on June 25 this year for their initiatives in improving the public sector. The UN conferred the 2012 United Nations Public Service Award to the Subordinate Courts for obtaining second place in the 'Improving the Delivery of Public Services' category for their establishment of a HELP Centre to empower self-represented litigants. The HELP Centre was launched on Feb 26, 2010 by the Subordinate Courts to make justice accessible to all court users, particularly those who do not have or do not want lawyers. The BCA won second place in the category of “Preventing and Combating Corruption in the Public Service” for the Contractors Registration System (CRS). This is the first time a public agency from Singapore has won in this category of the UN Award. The UN Public Service Award is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. -- BERNAMA