The Government will see what the Workers’ Party will do to set things right, following lapses found in the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council’s (AHPETC) financial and accounting systems, before deciding on what the conquences should be, Law Minister K Shanmugam said.
Speaking to reporters at the Chong Pang Annual Lunar New Year celebrations today (Feb 15), Mr Shanmugam said that while the matter has been extensively discussed in Parliament, the “big question” remained unanswered: “Why did you hide information from your own auditors, Foo Kon and Tan? What are you going to do to recover monies that have been lost?”
Giving several points detailing the sequence of events in Parliament last week to explain his statement today, Mr Shanmugam said: “Parliament passed the motion, noting with concern the Auditor-General’s report (on lapses at AHPETC). All the Members of Parliament (MP) accepted it, including Workers’ Party (WP) MPs, Non-constituency MPs. Everyone accepts that the situation is serious. The WP accepted the motion.”
Reiterating that the actions were “clearly unlawful”, the minister added that in Parliament, members have been “inundated with minutiae (such as) how the safekeeping is going to be made better, how there is going to be two locks, and so on”.
The minister said that nevertheless, there will have to be consequences. For instance, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said the Town Council Act have to be amended.
“While there is self-regulation, there has got to be…more focus on enforcement. More important, what are they (WP) going to do to recover lost monies?” he said.
“There will be other consequences. As (National Development) Minister Khaw (Boon Wan) said (in Parliament), we will have to see what they do. But I don’t see much sincerity (and) seriousness based on what they (WP) have said in Parliament.”
