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Review of procurement rules to take 3 months: PA

SINGAPORE — A day after the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) gave it a scathing report card, the People’s Association (PA) has offered more details of the committee it has set up to review its financial and procurement rules for grassroots organisations to enhance compliance.

The logo of People's Association. Photo: Channel NewsAsia

The logo of People's Association. Photo: Channel NewsAsia

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SINGAPORE — A day after the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) gave it a scathing report card, the People’s Association (PA) has offered more details of the committee it has set up to review its financial and procurement rules for grassroots organisations to enhance compliance.

The Grassroots Finance Review Committee’s work is expected to take three months and will be overseen by Mr Timothy de Souza, who sits on the PA’s board of management and is an auditor of a Neighbourhood Committee. He is also a trustee of the Eurasian Association of Singapore and an experienced grassroots leader, said the PA in a statement yesterday.

Mr De Souza will be joined by treasurer of Kampong Glam Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) John Teo Woon Keng, and chairman of Kolam Ayer CCC Chiang Heng Liang. Mr Teo is a chief financial officer and sits on the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants’ auditing and assurance standards committee, while Mr Chiang is a director of wealth management at an international bank.

“The committee will recommend suitable measures that would enable our 37,000 grassroots leaders and volunteers to continue to serve the community’s best interests while maintaining good governance and sound financial practices,” PA said.

As part of the review, the committee will recommend refinements to the current financial and procurement rules and procedures, and propose measures to strengthen monitoring by staff. The committee will be supported by PA senior officers, and staff from the Finance Ministry will advise them on the review.

In the AGO’s latest audit report on public agencies for FY14/15 released on Wednesday, the PA came under fire for procurement lapses and weaknesses in managing tenancy contracts, which reflect “a lack of oversight” by the PA on grassroots organisations’ (GRO) compliance with its financial rules.

In addition, the PA also red-flagged the non-declaration of conflicts of interest in related-party transactions and the self-approval of claims by the ex-chairman at the Admiralty CCC — he voluntarily stepped down on July 5 although investigations have found no evidence of dishonesty.

Grassroots leaders and observers TODAY spoke to said there was room for better management and communication on processes and rules.

Madam Teo Lin Lee, vice-chairperson of the Queenstown CCC and Community Club Management Committee (CCMC), said better communication channels would help prevent lapses, but noted that this could be challenging for such a vast network. Her CCC, for instance, comprises eight Residents’ Committees (RCs), on top of Neighbourhood Committees, and various sub-groups.

Chairperson of Geylang Serai CCC Eric Wong said the PA stipulates guidelines for GROs on various matters, such as engaging residents and organising events.

Mdm Teo added that key appointment holders in the various grassroots committees are sent for training by the PA on account management, among other things. The more experienced grassroots leaders in her CCC also conduct additional in-house training for newly appointed committee members, where they can clarify any doubts, she said.

Observers say there has to be a better volunteer management system. Associate Professor Mak Yuen Teen from the National University of Singapore’s Business School said: “Volunteers may come with good intentions, but if there is no proper system for managing them, the risk of things going wrong is high.”

He added that “critical functions with high risks of financial losses should ideally be centralised and handled by properly trained full-time staff”.

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