- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
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- 24,459
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Singaporeans should realize several things about the AGO's Report.
1) The AGO does not audit every single transaction in the Ministries that it covers. They don't have the resources to do so. Instead they conduct test checks which are sample audits on selected projects and transactions within the Ministry for that given year. Therefore, the items that are brought up by the AGO and which the public is just becoming aware of, are just a small sample. For example, in a test check of a consultancy contract issued by JTC, 11 of 12 cases under the contract were found to have been overpaid by JTC to the tune of $340,000. JTC it turned out, had paid hourly fees instead of the much cheaper weekly fees it was supposed to pay under the contract. Remember, AGO did not audit ALL JTC contracts, who knows what other over payments were made. Really, its all just the tip of the iceberg.
2) AGO does not audit the biggest spender, MINDEF. Imagine a Ministry with the largest budget at $13 billion, excluded from the audit!! The public is not interested in knowing what secret equipments or weapons the SAF is buying. Instead, the public would like to know if MINDEF is buying petrol at $5 litre or at market rates. Did the uniforms go through a proper and valid tender process? Many questions should be raised about MINDEF spending, but AGO is not allowed to audit this Ministry, hence giving them a free pass to all sorts of abuse. When this free pass is looked at in perspective, its almost certain there are many rampant abuses in the Ministry. Everyone knows that ex SAF Generals and Admirals have a poor track record in the corporate world of stat boards and GLCs. If they could not get their acts together at the GLC level, who is to say that they were efficient in the field of MINDEF procurement? If they were exceedingly successful at managing their SAF fields of responsibilities, then it should be reflected in the GLC and Stat board level, but it is not.
3) The AGO does not make reference to pass reports. Some of the Ministries mentioned are repeat offenders. How can a Ministry that has the same lapses commit the same infractions every year? What kind of incompetency is this?
4) The AGO has no jurisdictional teeth. Its reports are called Management Letters and they are send to the respective Ministry and GLC that was audited. It has no enforcement power, nor does it have the authority to order probes and investigations by the CPIB and Commercial Affairs Department of the SPF.
5) The AGO is not completely independent as it would have you believe. For example, the AGO is tasked with the audit of Govt. funds. For this latest audit, the AGO chose to audit The Worker's Fund (Worker Injury Compensation), run by the Ministry of Finance. However, given all the controversy surrounding the Central Provident Fund (CPF), I would think this is the more relevant and appropriate fund to audit. But to the best of my knowledge, no audit has ever been done on the CPF by the AGO. Why is this? Likely, they were told not to go there, same with the Ministry of Defence. Some other agencies that have not been audited by the AGO include the Supreme Court, the PMO and CPIB. Do they dare to go there?
1) The AGO does not audit every single transaction in the Ministries that it covers. They don't have the resources to do so. Instead they conduct test checks which are sample audits on selected projects and transactions within the Ministry for that given year. Therefore, the items that are brought up by the AGO and which the public is just becoming aware of, are just a small sample. For example, in a test check of a consultancy contract issued by JTC, 11 of 12 cases under the contract were found to have been overpaid by JTC to the tune of $340,000. JTC it turned out, had paid hourly fees instead of the much cheaper weekly fees it was supposed to pay under the contract. Remember, AGO did not audit ALL JTC contracts, who knows what other over payments were made. Really, its all just the tip of the iceberg.
2) AGO does not audit the biggest spender, MINDEF. Imagine a Ministry with the largest budget at $13 billion, excluded from the audit!! The public is not interested in knowing what secret equipments or weapons the SAF is buying. Instead, the public would like to know if MINDEF is buying petrol at $5 litre or at market rates. Did the uniforms go through a proper and valid tender process? Many questions should be raised about MINDEF spending, but AGO is not allowed to audit this Ministry, hence giving them a free pass to all sorts of abuse. When this free pass is looked at in perspective, its almost certain there are many rampant abuses in the Ministry. Everyone knows that ex SAF Generals and Admirals have a poor track record in the corporate world of stat boards and GLCs. If they could not get their acts together at the GLC level, who is to say that they were efficient in the field of MINDEF procurement? If they were exceedingly successful at managing their SAF fields of responsibilities, then it should be reflected in the GLC and Stat board level, but it is not.
3) The AGO does not make reference to pass reports. Some of the Ministries mentioned are repeat offenders. How can a Ministry that has the same lapses commit the same infractions every year? What kind of incompetency is this?
4) The AGO has no jurisdictional teeth. Its reports are called Management Letters and they are send to the respective Ministry and GLC that was audited. It has no enforcement power, nor does it have the authority to order probes and investigations by the CPIB and Commercial Affairs Department of the SPF.
5) The AGO is not completely independent as it would have you believe. For example, the AGO is tasked with the audit of Govt. funds. For this latest audit, the AGO chose to audit The Worker's Fund (Worker Injury Compensation), run by the Ministry of Finance. However, given all the controversy surrounding the Central Provident Fund (CPF), I would think this is the more relevant and appropriate fund to audit. But to the best of my knowledge, no audit has ever been done on the CPF by the AGO. Why is this? Likely, they were told not to go there, same with the Ministry of Defence. Some other agencies that have not been audited by the AGO include the Supreme Court, the PMO and CPIB. Do they dare to go there?
