Since Monday, the MND and WP Chairman Sylvia Lim have locked horns over how much the WP’s town council is paying its managing agent. Among other things, the MND had cited the example of Tampines Town Council which runs an estate with a similar number of property units and pays a significantly lower rate.
In particular, Dr Teo said there were “three key questions” of public interest:
- Did AHTC secure the best possible deal by awarding a managing agent contract worth over S$5 million to a company “formed by close WP supporters just days after the 2011 GE, and without a tender”?
- Did AHTC exercise due diligence when it awarded “not one but two contracts worth over S$21 million” to the same company a year later in 2012?
- Has AHTC protected the interests of Aljunied and Hougang residents?
Dr Teo said Ms Lim’s “first response” in Parliament was that she was “not sure about the unit rates that AHTC paid to FMSS”. “She had awarded contracts at significantly higher prices to close and trusted party supporters, and she did not know the facts?”
He added: “Ms Lim then said that the high price could be due to inflation. Really? Can inflation explain the huge difference in rates with Tampines Town Council?”
Lim challenges Khaw, Teo to report matter to CPIB
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan and Coordinating Chairman of PAP Town Councils Teo Ho Pin had “decided to distract the public” by casting aspersions on the Workers’ Party’s (WP) management of its town council and its managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS), WP Chairman Sylvia Lim said yesterday.
In a press statement issued after Dr Teo’s Facebook post, Ms Lim said the move by Mr Khaw and Dr Teo was “most regrettable”. Referring to the Ministry of National Development, she said: “It is disappointing that the ministry, too, has been drawn into the fray.”
She added: “If the Minister, Dr Teo or the ministry believe there was any wrongdoing in WP’s management of the town council, we invite them to make a report to the CPIB or other relevant agencies to investigate the matter, rather than to make these suggestions and insinuations. We assure these agencies of our full cooperation.”
Ms Lim said, among other things, FMSS’ directors and shareholders are not WP members while AIM is owned and managed by PAP members and former MPs. AIM had S$2 paid-up capital while FMSS had S$500,000 paid-up capital, she added. Also, under the AIM transaction, a “critical town council asset” was placed under the ownership of AIM, which could terminate the contract with one month’s notice. In contrast, FMSS did not own any town council assets, she said.
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