Several government agencies found to have wasted taxpayer money

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

SEVERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FOUND TO HAVE WASTED TAXPAYER MONEY

Post date:
10 Feb 2015 - 12:37pm








Mainstream Media's spotlight is currently on the AGO report highlighting 'major lapses' in Workers' Party's AHPETC accounts, but there is a similar problem seen now with the government's own mishandling of taxpayer money.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently released their report on Feb 4th highlighting "irregularities" in the use of taxpayer money by several government agencies.
The report follows an earlier audit by the Auditor-General which first detected the lapses.
The PAC report found that several government agencies ahd failed exercise dilligence in managing public resources meaning that money was wasted.
Here is a summary of the agencies involved and the lapses that they committed:
MINDEF
Mindef rented 109 hectares of land from PUB in 1971 at a very low price in 1995. MINDEF then sublet a part of that land, considered to be prime commercial land, to a related contractor at a price of only $45 a year.
Later, when PUB increased the rental that MINDEF had to pay on the land, MINDEF failed to pass that cost onto their related contractor which meant that the contractor, which converted to a private company, enjoyed premium commercial land at just $45 a year. The lost revenue in rental means that taxpayers were essentially subsidising a private company for many years because MINDEF was too lazy to update the rental contracts.
AVA






AVA was found to have spent millions to build special facilities including auditoriums at two sites in Sembawang and Lim Chu Kang but they apparently didn't do their research or they couldn't be bothered to rent out the facilities after they were done as they remained vacant for up to 10 years meaning the millions spent had essentially gone down the drain.
CPF
The audits found many discrepancies in MediSave claims and there was many instances of underpayment of CPF contributions. The CPF Board had failed to maintain proper checks and balances on the information and money they received from employers and medical institutions meaning there was a lot of CPF members who were underpaid.
NParks
When NParks was being audited, the AGO found that there were some gaps in the information and documentation related to the billion dollar Gardens by the Bay project.
NParks proceeded to try and cover up the fact by asking their vendors to backdate letters and communications to satisfy the areas where AGO had requested for more information.
This means that the the records weren't kept properly and there could be some gaps in the finances for the billion dollar Gardens by the Bay project.
Is it really reasonable for the government and mainstream media to constantly hound on the workers' party for their lapses when government ministries and large agencies which have had years and years of experience are still found to have major lapses involving millions of dollars of taxpayer money?
AHPETC just took over management of the town council and they also faced several technical problems including the fact that their management software was taken away from them just after they took over thanks to a government linked $2 company AIM refusing to allow them to use the software.

Related:
AGO Report: NParks faked their documentation simply to satisfy our Audit
AGO Report: NLB's system for buying books kept buying from expensive vendors
AGO Report: CPF Board didn't ensure that employers were paying the right contributions
AGO Report: MINDEF charged only $45 a year in rent for a large commercial property
Sylvia Lim: Don't be Fooled by Mainstream Media Headlines, Read Full AGO Report


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