SINGAPORE — Residents in Aljunied GRC and Hougang whom this newspaper spoke to were split when asked yesterday whether they were concerned with the fact that auditors appointed by their Workers’ Party-run town council were unable to express an opinion on its latest financial statements.

A straw poll of 20 residents showed that half of them were worried, but the rest were indifferent.

On one hand, those who were concerned said that large sums of taxpayers’ money were involved, and the WP has to show that it is able to run the town council in a transparent manner.

On the other hand, those who were unperturbed said that it was premature to draw any conclusions and some felt the problems stemmed from the handover of Aljunied GRC by the People’s Action Party (PAP) following the General Election in 2011.

On Thursday, the independent auditors, Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton, said that, among other things, they were unable to determine the validity and accuracy of various items, including receivables, lift repair and lift upgrading expenses, temporary unidentified receipts from residents and the Housing and Development Board, advance receipts from residents in respect of conservancy and service charges along with Goods and Services tax (GST) payables and unreconciled differences of cash and bank balances. In total, the items were worth more than S$22 million.

The annual report for Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council — containing the financial statements — does not include Punggol East, which came under the town council following the WP’s victory in the constituency’s by-election in January last year.

Ms Sharon Tan, a homemaker, said: “It concerns my neighbourhood and their decision-making.” She added that the news was enough to make residents reconsider which political party they want to run their town council.

Ms Kim Lin Harbick, 34, added: “It’s our money (which) they are spending. The town councils have a duty to the residents to be transparent in their doings.”

Mr Joseph Moolayil Joseph, a 85-year-old retiree, felt that as a responsible organisation, the town council must be able to fully account for their spending to the auditors.

The town council’s auditors had submitted a disclaimer of opinion for the second time — prompting the Ministry of National Development to flag its concern in a press release issued on Thursday.

Disclaimers of opinion are issued by auditors when there is a lack of information or appropriate evidence to provide a basis for audit opinion.

However, Ms Suriati Mohamed, a 50-year-old housewife, said it was not a concern for her as long as her needs as a resident are met by the town council. “I don’t know about financials, as long as there is no problem, all the facilities are here, it is okay for me,” she said.

Similarly, other residents such as Ms Diana Tan, 42, said they were unconcerned about what they described as “politics”.

Mr Tan Yoke Len, 44, a HDB shopowner, said he felt that there were some issues with the handover by the PAP.

Mr Assya Fiee, a 28-year-old technical officer, said he is waiting to see how the issue plays out. In the meantime, he is putting his trust in the WP, he said.

Kenneth Tan