GE2015: WP’s AHPETC is now in a surplus – Hougang MP Png Eng Huat
The Workers' Party-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol-East Town Council (AHPETC) now has a surplus, Hougang MP Png Eng Huat said.
Holding up a copy of the annual report for financial year 2014/2015 at a new conference on Sunday (30 Aug), Png said he would leave it to the residents to decide if there had been an improvement in AHPETC’s financial position from previous years, when the town council was in the red.
The surplus also took into account $7.2 million worth of grants that had been previously withheld by the Ministry of National Development (MND).
The report will be released tomorrow (Aug 31), added Png, who did not reveal the surplus amount.
In addition to an increase in revenue, Png said the town council had also adopted cost-cutting measures, such as using contestable energy.
On Saturday (Aug 29), MND released a statement saying former AHPETC managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) had been 'grossly profiteering' off the town council, calling its profit margin 'abnormal'.
"They (MND) seem to suggest that somehow the TC is responsible for how profitable or otherwise their contractors are," WP chairman Sylvia Lim said, when asked about the statement. "I don't think it's the normal way that people do business."
Lim highlighted that when the Town Council Bill was originally introduced in parliament, one of the points made by then Minister for National Development S. Dhanabalan was that the bill was meant for town councils to be autonomous, which allowed them to make decisions on the rates to be paid to their contractors and raise the funds to do so.
"Looking at the recent events AHPETC has been targeted for, we can see the huge deviation from the original purpose of town councils," Lim said, adding that 'one can only assume they (MND) are in overdrive to try to find something before polling day'.
She said the report would give everyone 'updated audited information' about the town council. "We've been called a house near collapse, but is that really a fair statement of what's been happening?".
Despite the release of the report, Lim said she expected the issue to be raised during the upcoming election campaign, and the WP was 'always prepared to discuss it'.
Referring to the People's Association lapses, which had been flagged by the Auditor-General’s Office, and the AHPETC saga, Lim said some voters were hoping the elections would go beyond such issues.
"I think there is a desire, certainly in many Singaporeans, that we will have to talk about the broader national issues and where our country is going... that's the purpose of elections, which only come once in five years," Lim said.
Png and Lim were speaking at the party's Syed Alwi Road headquarters after unveiling another four potential candidates for the upcoming general election.
The four are: Kenneth Foo, 38, a manager at the Singapore Cancer Society; former associate librarian Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, 36; Gurmit Singh, 55, head of the legal department in a real estate agency; and Dennis Tan, 45, a shipping lawyer.
They join 12 other potential candidates the party had introduced over the past week.
In addition, all current WP incumbents will be defending their respective seats.
The WP has said it would field a record 28 candidates in five Group Representation Constituencies and five Single-Member Constituencies in this election.- with additional reporting by Nicholas Yong
