Everyone
reading the media would come to one conclusion, ie, the biggest case of public
service incompetence must be the AHPETC. You hear the ministers talking about
it practically everyday. You read in the media just as often until ‘jer lat’.
Are
there other cases of public service that are more serious than the AHPETC? Just think about it. I say just think about
it, not to talk about it. Think of anything? Don’t tell me. I don’t want to
know. I left this article at this point yesterday not very sure how to proceed
from here.
This
morning, 16 Jul, I was greeted by two articles from the Auditor General’s
Office on lapses in the NLB and the Admiralty CCC. In the above paragraph I
said I chose not to know, but with these cases in the front pages of the media,
even I closed my eyes, I cannot refuse not to see them. It is now common and
public knowledge.
Now
my problem is how to comment on these lapses? Shall I put them side by side
with the AHPETC case and show the similarities? Better not. With the GE around
the corner, it is better to change tack and read it from the right perspective.
Issues like these would become election issues and the opposition parties would
definitely compare them and their severity with the AHPETC case. Comments
already flooded a thread on the topic in TRE.
What
were the cases about? The facts first. In the NLB’s case it was the procurement
of a $7.3 million e-resource system from a vendor and apparently without
looking at other alternatives or no tendering or something like that. The exact
words, “ ‘without any evidence’ of
having considered other alternative materials that were similar”. In the case of the Admiralty CCC it was about
the Chairman approving seven of his own claims amounting to $114,767 and the
approving and award of two contracts amounting to $32,000 when he held a senior
position in the company. No one can miss the similarities in these instances to
those of AHPETC. Conflict of interest anyone? How serious compares to husband
approving wife’s application for payment?
I
will look at these cases as lapses in procedures and how to rectify them. They
happened, let’s move on. Oh, based on the AGO’s recommendation the Ministry of
Communications and Information had made a police report on this case. Before
anyone started to use strong words, it is important to understand that some of these
agencies and people are new to these things and have to start from scratch.
With their inexperience, they are likely to be lapses in procedures but with no
intention to cheat or foul play. They would not understand the meaning of
conflict of interest. How to expect people from the villages of a 3rd
World to understand such concepts of impropriety? Being too harsh on newbies is not very kind
and a bit unfair.
In
the case of the NLB and Admiralty CCC, are these new institutions? Would they
have precedents and existing practices and procedures to work on? Would they have paid expertise like govt
officials and procedures to guide them? These are important factors to determine
whether their actions are mischievous or innocent and due to ignorance. I think
NLB is a new organization. The old NLB is history, so they have to start things
all over, to reinvent the wheel on operating procedures.
Another
angle to look at is that being a 3rd World country and without
foreign talent, such lapses are bound to occur. We just don’t have the
expertise and the experience about such things. It may be good to hire 3rd
World experts with the experience to show our ‘going to be’ 3rd
World no skill and no talent people how to run public organizations and how to
develop proper procedures on checks and controls. This thing about approving
own claims or approving jobs or contracts with connected parties are things
that are new to a new 3rd World country like ours, only 50 years in
existence. We should learn from older countries and govts that have all these
procedures worked out and in place. They are very experienced in such matters
when such things are part of their culture.
I
would suggest we hire more 3rd World talents to help us iron out all
the administrative loose ends and lapses. Alternatively we can send our people
to 3rd World countries to learn from their best practices. I think
these should work. Are we a young country? Oops, we are not even a country, a city,
going from first World to 3rd World and these lapses should be
considered normal, our new normal.
We
should thus be more forgiving and not to act as if the sky has fallen down and
go for the kill. It is so embarrassing and so unbecoming to jump up and down
like little brats accusing inexperienced people for such lapses.
What
do you think?
5 comments:
Temasek Polytechnic also in the spot light.
AGO and a commission should investigate previous CEO and Board of SMRT and get answers for accumulated engineering and maintenance fiasco. This is a much bigger issue of incompetence and accountability that is relevant and still ongoing and impact hundreds of thousands of citizens.
AHPETC, under the WP, is a big case of incompetence simply because the WP itself is not ready and competent to form the govt, even if majority Sinkies want them to. Very sad and sayang(wasted), isn't?
Can hold back the fundings to GRCs that lost money in buying toxic bonds or not? How much did AHPETC lost and how much did those GRCs lost? Who lost more?
If there is any wrongdoing at AHPETC, a police report would have been made a long time ago.
And corruption charges would have been filed.
The fact that there is no police report made or CAD investigation tells me a lot.
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