Public agencies’ procurement still ‘prone to lapses’: Auditor-General Office

SINGAPORE - The latest Auditor-General Report released today (July 17) highlighted five areas that public entities need to pay attention to and improve on. They are the monitoring of contractors’ performance, overseeing of projects managed by external consultants, procurement, management of stocks and stores, and management of computer access controls. Noting that procurement continued to be an area “prone to lapses”, the Auditor-General Office (AGO) pointed out that some entities were not diligent in ensuring compliance with procurement rules. There were instances of non-compliances concerning transparency, open and fair competition and value for money, the AGO cited. For example, some entities waived competition on weak grounds and allowed bid alterations by some bidders after the tender had closed. The AGO was also concerned about weak computer access controls. It pointed out examples such as not granting access rights on a needs basis and not tracking and reviewing activities of users with powerful access rights. “Weak controls over access rights could compromise the integrity and confidentiality of data stored in IT systems. Public sector entities cannot afford to be lax given that many of the entities’ operations are highly computerised,” said the AGO.