PM Lee orders review of Town Councils, MND to probe AIM deal
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has ordered a probe into the sale of People's Action Party (PAP) Town Council management software to Action Information Management (AIM) Pte Ltd.
The controversial deal has been the source of much debate and tension over the past fortnight ever since it was raised by Workers' Party chief Sylvia Lim and the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC).
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, PM Lee said he's asked the Ministry of National Development to review the transaction in "the interest of transparency and maintaining trust in the system" and that "public funds were safeguarded and resident's interest were not compromised".
He also added that MND would at the same time take a broad-based review of the "fundamental nature" and purpose of TCs in order to ensure "high overall standards of corporate governance".
The review is expected to take a month or two.
In a statement published on the AHTC's website last month, Lim had challenged the PAP and its subsidiary company, AIM, to come clean on why the PAP town councils sold and leased their computer systems back from them.
Town Council coordinating chairman Teo Ho Pin defended the sale, however, saying that the transaction followed regulations.
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