The Auditor General released its annual audit report on the civil service yesterday.
http://www.ago.gov.sg/doc/ar-1314.pdf
Among the many lapses highlighted across various ministries and statutory boards was a curious but significant finding on NParks.
According to the Report, an audit of NParks’ Gardens By the Bay project uncovered indications “that certain documents furnished by NParks upon AGO’s request could have been created and backdated to give the impression that they existed at the time when the relevant transactions took place.”
This, the AGO noted, is “a serious irregularity” and “casts doubts on the authenticity of other documents and information provided.”
The AGO further disclosed that an inquiry by MND had found out that this was perpetuated by an officer who “created and backdated a total of 16 letters, purportedly issued by NParks to its suppliers satisfy AGO’s queries.”
The officer also arranged with the suppliers to issue another 11 backdated letters, out of which five were created by the officer on behalf of the suppliers.
Now as we know, NParks comes under Khaw Boon Wan’s Ministry of National Development.
If readers recall, the same statutory board was involved in the Brompton Bike procurement lapse. At that time, Khaw had “memorably” defended the purchase before the true degree of severity of the lapse came to light.
The blame was eventual pinned on Assistant Director Bernard Lim Yong Soon who was alleged to have failed to disclose his friendship with the owner of Bikehop, the bike supplier which won the tender.
So in the short space of two years, Khaw has presided over two critical lapses in a statutory board under his watch.
In the corporate world, under such circumstances, any CEO would have been asked to leave, taken a pay cut or at the very least, apologized.
However, we know things are different in PAP lalaland.
As Lee Hsien Loong said two years ago during the Ministerial Pay debate: “we cannot expect Ministers never to make mistakes or never to have mistakes happen on their watch in their ministries. It is not possible – this is a very big organisation and it is a very complicated world, and even with the best intent in the world, from time to time, things will go wrong.”
The question then arises: when will a Minister ever be made accountable if one goes by the size of his ministry?
So here we are. Trapped in a Groundhog Day-like cycle of repeated lapses with the same cast of characters at the top ensconced comfortably in their million dollar positions.
Until the next election, we hope.
The Alternative View
[source]: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Alternative-View/358759327518739