Columbarium tender puzzling

I refer to the report “No commercial columbarium at temple site in Sengkang” (Jan 30). What is puzzling is how a tender requiring domain expertise was awarded to a young company registered here last June (after the tender was issued).

Its principal activities include funeral and related activities such as embalming, cremating and cemetery services and the sale of bereavement products and services. It is even less understood whether the principal promoters are professionally qualified and equipped with a reasonable track record to perform the tasks required for this specialised project.

Looking at it from the financial risk management perspective, an infrastructural project of this magnitude was granted to a company with an issued and paid-up capital of only S$100,000. What happens if the company goes insolvent mid-way?

Our agencies should learn from our recent history in public projects where operators went bankrupt, such as our MRT projects, to avoid honest mistakes with repercussions, added costs and risks for the public.

The Housing and Development Board should enlighten us as to whether qualifying standards for vendors are still safe for such purposes, or otherwise, what sustainable processes and transparency components would be put in place for better decision-making.