Khaw asks why WP town council rewarded friends

SINGAPORE — Expressing surprise at the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council’s (AHPETC) response to the authorities’ allegations that it overpaid its former managing agent, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan today (Aug 30) pressed the Workers’ Party (WP) — which runs the town council — to explain why it was “making such an arrangement to reward their supporters and friends”.

He also said there was nothing unusual about the timing of the Ministry of National Development’s (MND) statement, which said FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) had been “grossly profiteering” from its work for the town council — its only client.

AHPETC chairman Sylvia Lim, who in her response on Saturday called the statement a “series of careless accusations”, had questioned the ministry’s “political motivation” for releasing the report at this time.

Mr Khaw said the ministry received AHPETC’s financial statements and reports for FY13/14 last month. Within days, it asked the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority to look into FMSS’ auditor Teo Liang Chye and Co. “As soon as (ACRA had) the findings, they let us have it, which was two to three days ago,” said Mr Khaw.

Calling the FMSS contract a “very rich” one, Mr Khaw, who spoke on the sidelines of an event at Sree Narayana Mission today, went on to question the “motive” for such an arrangement. “The point is why are they making such an arrangement to reward their supporters and friends,” said Mr Khaw, who is also chairman of the People’s Action Party (PAP). “All I know is the outcome is a very sad one for the Aljunied residents. They end up losing money because the town council was rewarding their friends excessively, from our point of view.”

FMSS, he noted, made so much money that it could pay four of the shareholders and directors more than S$3 million in FY13/14 and still make a profit.

“So I was surprised to read that the Workers’ Party find that there was no overpayment. Or to put it another way, S$3 million is fine,” said Mr Khaw. So now that they have sacked FMSS, terminated the contract ... they have to recruit their own GM (general manager) and secretary. So are they also rewarding them at S$3 million a year since they think S$3 million is fine? If not then how do you explain that there was no overpayment?”

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who is also organising secretary of the PAP, said at a separate event today that the information released by the MND is “in the public interest”.

He also pointed out that all politicians and government agencies must go beyond keeping within the law, and pay heed to ethics and integrity.

“There’s a need to reassure Singaporeans ... that whenever we are in charge of public monies ... let’s go the extra mile in reassuring Singaporeans that we are going keep to the high standards of honesty, integrity, accountability,” said Dr Ng, who was on a market visit in Bishan North with his Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC team. “We are not saying things won’t go wrong ... when things go wrong, the way you fix it, address it is crucial.”

He added: “Are they just going to comply with the letter of the law? Or are they just going to go the extra mile and satisfy themselves that, ‘Look not only do I want to be doing the right thing, but (I want to) seen to be doing the right thing.” He also likened corruption to a cancer, which if left unchecked would spread everywhere. “Once people are lax, you let something get by you and you shouldn’t, things start to slide ... by the time you try to take the cancer out, it’s already metastasised,” he said.