Punggol East accounts: PAP rejects deficit claims
SINGAPORE — After the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Workers’ Party (WP) stated their intention to move on from the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) saga and let voters have the final say in the matter, the accounts of another town council took centre stage yesterday.
The hustings enter a sixth full day today, and the debate over the management of town councils looks set to continue after PAP heavyweights shot down claims by WP chief Low Thia Khiang that the Punggol East town council — which has since merged with the Aljunied and Hougang town councils — was in deficit before it came under the Opposition party’s charge.
While the copy of the financial statement of the Punggol Town Council dated April 30, 2013, had stated that there was a deficit of more than S$280,000, the same set of accounts also showed an amount of S$303,372 claimable as reimbursement from the Community Improvement Projects Committee fund. In other words, the town council had a net surplus of S$21,363 when it was handed over to the WP, the ruling party pointed out.
PAP first assistant secretary-general Teo Chee Hean also revealed that, in fact, the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council — which the Punggol East Town Council was previously a part of — had handed over S$22.5 million in cash to AHPETC as part of the handover.
At a WP rally at Simei Road yesterday, Mr Low brought up the matter briefly, and asked the PAP to clarify why its Punggol East candidate, Mr Charles Chong, had said in an interview last month with the Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao that the town council had about S$1 million in surplus.
At the WP’s rally the previous day, Mr Low held up a copy of the town council’s audited accounts dated April 30, 2013, and alleged that the PAP candidates have “twisted the truth to mislead the people”.
But Mr Teo, who spoke to reporters during a walkabout at Rivervale Plaza yesterday, noted that Mr Low “very dramatically” showed only one page of the accounts, out of more than 20 pages. “If you look at the whole set, we were very careful to hand over everything that was due to our residents here. We wanted to do right for them,” said Mr Teo, showing the media the page of the accounts that stated the claimable reimbursement as well as the amount in cash handed over to AHPETC.
Mr Teo stressed that when the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council handed the money over to AHPETC, it was fully accounted for, and the WP did not raise any issues during the handover. “We were very surprised when these issues had suddenly come up,” said Mr Teo.
He pointed out that AHPETC “has never submitted an unqualified set of accounts” after the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council handed over the cash, which included money from the sinking fund and project funds. “The real question is ... I hope the cash is properly accounted for by them (AHPETC) ... That’s really the question that they need to answer,” Mr Teo said.
Mr Chong, who was with Mr Teo during the walkabout, added: “You ask me where the money went, right? I think we can account for it ... My question to him (Mr Low) is, where (has) the money that we handed him gone to?”
Separately, PAP organising secretary Ng Eng Hen reiterated that the PAP town councils have “very good audited accounts. The facts will speak for themselves”. “If Mr Low agrees with the facts, he may have to issue a correction. I hope he’s gentlemanly enough to accept that he was wrong in this regard,” Dr Ng said during a Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC walkabout.
PAP Pasir Ris-Punggol candidate Zainal Sapari, who chaired the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, reiterated that the Punggol East Town Council was “in good financial health” when it was handed over to the WP after the 2013 Punggol East by-election.
Writing on Facebook, Mr Zainal said that, as of March 31, 2012, Punggol East had an “accumulated routine fund surplus” of S$804,945. Of this, S$782,563 was set aside for town improvement projects, and the balance was transferred to the sinking fund, as required by the Town Councils Act when there is a change in party managing a constituency.
While there was a deficit in the accumulated routine fund at the point where Punggol East was handed over to the WP, Mr Zainal said: “The same set of accounts also showed an amount of S$303,372 claimable as reimbursement from the CIPC fund, which Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council had already secured for Punggol East. This was made known ... to (the WP) at the point of takeover ... which would give an actual net surplus of S$21,363.”
During a walkabout in Punggol East, WP’s candidate for the single-seat ward Lee Li Lian was asked by reporters why Mr Low had brought up the issue on Saturday.
Ms Lee noted that the Lianhe Zaobao interview with Mr Chong was published on Aug 28, and at that time, the WP was preparing to submit the AHPETC accounts by Aug 31.
Subsequently, it was busy with Nomination Day and the hustings, she said. Moreover, the party felt that given that Saturday’s rally was held at Punggol East, it was the “best platform” to raise the matter.
“We felt that it was necessary to set the record straight in a Punggol East rally since it was Punggol East accounts that we were talking about,” said Ms Lee.
