Workers’ Party chairman Sylvia Lim has urged the public to “look beyond the headlines and the summaries” and pore through the details of the AGO’s report to “have a better understanding of the issues”.
This comes after , the AGO had listed lapses in governance and compliance by AHPETC, including failing to transfer monies into sinking fund bank accounts, as required by the Town Councils Financial Rules. AHPETC was also found to have inadequately managed conflicts of interest when it came to procuring services.
Ms Lim, who’s also the chairman of of Aljunied-Houngang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), said the lapses flagged will be addressed when Parliament sits on Thursday (12 Feb).
Ms Lim said, “I think it’s better for people to go in with an open mind, rather than me trying to preempt certain matters.”
“I would prefer if people read (the report) in totality and I think from there, they will get a much better picture of what’s happening.”
The AGO made public its audit findings on AHPETC’s accounts for FY2012-13 yesterday (9 Feb).
It was directed by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to carry out the audit after independent auditors said they were unable to express an opinion on the town council’s financial statements for the second straight year.
