- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
[h=1]Shanmugam reiterates AHPETC actions 'clearly unlawful'[/h]
[h=2]He said there are still big questions left unanswered, even after the debates in Parliament following the Auditor-General's discovery of lapses in the town council's financial and accounting systems.[/h]
Logo of the Aljunied-Hougang Punggol East Town Council. (Photo: Marcus Mark Ramos)
[h=1][/h]
<div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div>
SINGAPORE: Law Minister K Shanmugam has reiterated that the actions of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) are "clearly unlawful".
He said there are still big questions left unanswered, even after the debates in Parliament following the Auditor-General's discovery of lapses in the town council's financial and accounting systems.
Speaking on the sidelines of a community event at his constituency on Sunday (Feb 15), Mr Shanmugam said the Town Council Act will have to be amended. He added that the government will have to see what the town council does before deciding what the other consequences should be.
Mr Shanmugam said: "First and most important, Parliament agreed to the motion, noting with concern the Auditor-General’s report on the Aljunied Town Council. All the MPs accepted it, including the Workers' Party MPs, the NMPs and NCMPs. So they accept, everyone accepts, that this is serious...
"What concerns me is that the (AHPETC) actions are clearly unlawful. But in Parliament, having accepted in theory the Auditor–General’s report, we were inundated with minutiae about how the safekeeping is going to be made better, how there’s going to be two locks and so on.
"The big questions remain 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? Those are questions, because these are people’s monies. There will have to be consequences; we have to see what they do to recover lost money."
Mr Shanmugam said that one clear consequence would be that the Town Council Act will have to be amended. He said: "While there is self-regulation, there has got to be, I think, more oversight. At the same time, there will have to be other consequences.
"As Minister Khaw has said, we’ll have to see. Actions were unlawful, monies have been lost, what are they going to do? There have been breaches in fiduciary duties by the town councillors themselves. Now, if we apply these standards to any other company or any other town council. You know what Singaporeans will expect? They will expect things to be set right. We want to see what actions are going to be taken to set things right."
Mr Shanmugam also said that the AHPETC actions are against not only the Town Council Act, but other legislation as well. "There are many laws...and the actions are, and I choose my words carefully, I have said that they are unlawful. That’s based on my knowledge and legal advice that we have received."
- CNA/ir
[h=2]He said there are still big questions left unanswered, even after the debates in Parliament following the Auditor-General's discovery of lapses in the town council's financial and accounting systems.[/h]
[h=1][/h]
<div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div>
SINGAPORE: Law Minister K Shanmugam has reiterated that the actions of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) are "clearly unlawful".
He said there are still big questions left unanswered, even after the debates in Parliament following the Auditor-General's discovery of lapses in the town council's financial and accounting systems.
Speaking on the sidelines of a community event at his constituency on Sunday (Feb 15), Mr Shanmugam said the Town Council Act will have to be amended. He added that the government will have to see what the town council does before deciding what the other consequences should be.
Mr Shanmugam said: "First and most important, Parliament agreed to the motion, noting with concern the Auditor-General’s report on the Aljunied Town Council. All the MPs accepted it, including the Workers' Party MPs, the NMPs and NCMPs. So they accept, everyone accepts, that this is serious...
"What concerns me is that the (AHPETC) actions are clearly unlawful. But in Parliament, having accepted in theory the Auditor–General’s report, we were inundated with minutiae about how the safekeeping is going to be made better, how there’s going to be two locks and so on.
"The big questions remain 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? Those are questions, because these are people’s monies. There will have to be consequences; we have to see what they do to recover lost money."
Mr Shanmugam said that one clear consequence would be that the Town Council Act will have to be amended. He said: "While there is self-regulation, there has got to be, I think, more oversight. At the same time, there will have to be other consequences.
"As Minister Khaw has said, we’ll have to see. Actions were unlawful, monies have been lost, what are they going to do? There have been breaches in fiduciary duties by the town councillors themselves. Now, if we apply these standards to any other company or any other town council. You know what Singaporeans will expect? They will expect things to be set right. We want to see what actions are going to be taken to set things right."
Mr Shanmugam also said that the AHPETC actions are against not only the Town Council Act, but other legislation as well. "There are many laws...and the actions are, and I choose my words carefully, I have said that they are unlawful. That’s based on my knowledge and legal advice that we have received."
- CNA/ir
