Workers’ Party-run town council seeks Ministry’s help to verify figures
SINGAPORE — The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) has thrown the ball back at the Ministry of National Development (MND) over the issues raised by the town council’s auditors in its latest financial statement.
SINGAPORE — The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) has thrown the ball back at the Ministry of National Development (MND) over the issues raised by the town council’s auditors in its latest financial statement.
Adding that the town council is seeking MND’s help on the matter, AHPETC chairman Sylvia Lim said in a media statement today that it understood the auditors’ plight as there were information gaps that existed at the handover after the 2011 General Election which, to date, are still not filled. She added: “MND could well be the best party to assist the TC to resolve some of the key information gaps.”
The town council’s auditors, from Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton, had been unable to verify various items in the accounts amounting to over S$22 million. This was among the issues highlighted by the MND in a press statement yesterday, which also flagged as cause for concern the auditors’ disclaimer of opinion on the accounts.
In the 2011 financial year, the town council’s auditors had tried unsuccessfully to request information from the former auditors. Ms Lim said: “Repeated attempts by the town council to obtain information from the former managing agent and government authorities, such as asking MND/ the Housing and Development Board regarding S$1.12 million which the People’s Action Party-run Aljunied TC had recorded as receivables from the Citizens’ Consultative Committees for town improvement projects, did not yield answers.” Attempts in the 2012 financial year were also unsuccessful.
“Unless those agencies with the required information furnish them to the TC, it is likely that information gaps will remain and the accounts will continue to be qualified every year.”
Ms Lim acknowledged lapses in the transfer of money to the town council’s sinking fund, saying it was an oversight that has been rectified. She added that this did not result in any loss of money or unauthorised spending.
In a statement, MND responded that, of the thirteen issues of concern AHPETC’s auditors had raised, only four of them were related to issues that had been also raised in the financial year 2011.
The nine new issues raised in the 2012 report included the issue over the sinking funds, and AHPETC not making available information to the auditors details of project management service fees paid to a related party.
AHPETC also did not make management accounts and records of minutes from after financial year 2012 available to the auditors, MND said, which would have allowed the auditors to ascertain if the town council’s financial statements properly reflected any required adjustments or disclosures made.
Such failures are not related to handover issues, MND said.