Category: Singapuraku

MND Applies For Court-Appointed Accountants To Safeguard Grants To AHPETC

The Ministry of National Development (MND) has applied to Court to appoint independent accountants to safeguard Government grants to the Workers’ Party-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) and to oversee its use of those grants.

MND said that the court documents were served on AHPETC on Friday.

This is a step that MND is taking before disbursing several million in government grants to AHPETC. Grants are disbursed to all town councils, but MND has withheld AHPETC’s grants for FY2014 due to concerns over lapses in governance and compliance at Opposition town council.

In a parliamentary debate last month over these lapses, found by the Auditor-General’s Office after a year-long audit, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan had said that AHPETC would not get the grants, which are about $7million annually, until it sets its house in order.

In a statement on Friday, MND noted that AHPETC had written to it in June 2014 to request disbursement of the Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Operating Grant for FY 2014 without further delay, stating that ‘the continued withholding of the grant to AHPETC is likely to critically and adversely affect the town council’s cash flow position.’”

“But before MND does so, there must be adequate safeguards to ensure that AHPETC accounts for and manages these grants properly,” said MND.

MND has therefore applied to Court to appoint independent accountants to safeguard the grants to be disbursed to AHPETC.

If the Court grants the order, MND will be able to disburse the S&CC grants for both FY14 and FY15 to AHPETC.

“AHPETC will have to keep the grants in segregated accounts, and payments out of these accounts exceeding certain thresholds will have to be co-signed by the independent accountants,” said MND.

MND is also asking the Court to empower the independent accountants to look at past payments made by AHPETC and to “take appropriate action to recover losses suffered by AHPETC and its residents.”

Government ministers have charged that AHPETC’s managing agent, FM Solutions & Services, over-charged it by $1.6 million a year compared to what other town councils pay their managing agents.

“But the independent accountants will not take over the operations of AHPETC nor seek to remedy the problems identified at AHPETC. These remain the responsibility of AHPETC’s WP MPs, the MND statement emphasised.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 21, 2015
SIA Flight Forced To Divert To New Delhi Due To Drunk Passenger

A Singapore Airlines flight from Milan to Singapore was diverted to New Delhi due to a drunk passenger on board.

When contacted, the airline confirmed that SQ367 was diverted to the Indian capital on Thursday. No other details were given.

The plane landed in Singapore on Friday morning.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 21, 2015
Portuguese Man Jailed For Punching and Kicking A Police Officer

A Portuguese man who punched and kicked a police officer as he tried to find out where he lived was jailed for a month on Thursday.

Video editor Carlos Eduardo Da-Cruz Ferreira, 34, was drunk and fell asleep in the back of a taxi when the cabby asked police at a road block to enquire where he lived.

After it pulled to the side of Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 last June 21, two cops tried to wake Da-Cruz Ferreira, who reeked of alcohol.

They called out to him but there was no response. Sergeant Mushawwir Adrus, 23, tapped Da-Cruz Ferreira on the shoulder, causing him to wake up briefly. The cops identified themselves and asked where he lived.

Da-Cruz Ferreira responded by punching the policeman in the right eye. Sgt Mushawwir then held his hands and asked where he lived – but was kicked in his lower abdomen. Necessary force was used to remove him from the taxi.

Staff Sgt Mushawwir, whose contact lens was dislodged, needed treatment at Alexandra Hospital.

Urging the court to jail Da-Cruz Ferreira, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said police officers are on the front line and must know they have the full protection of the law.

“The court must send a consistent signal that violence towards police officers cannot be condoned,” she told District Judge Ng Peng Hong.

Lawyer Shashi Nathan said his client, whose father is a High Court judge in Portugal, had then just gone through a severe and traumatic break-up with his then girlfriend.

He said the one-off incident was triggered by his client’s intoxicated state. He said Da-Cruz Ferreira has voluntarily undergone therapy for his alcohol dependence and was found to be suffering from depressive and anxiety disorders.

Da-Cruz Ferreira, who pleaded guilty, was allowed to defer sentence until April 2 to resolve his personal matters. Another charge of abusing the cop was taken into consideration.

For causing hurt to deter a public servant in carrying out his work, he could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned or received any combined sentence.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 20, 2015
More Children Afflicted With HFMD Now Compared To Same Period In 2014

More children in Singapore have been afflicted with Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD) in the last 11 weeks, compared to same period in 2014.

Latest figures by the Ministry of Health showed that just last week, there were 609 cases, almost twice the number of cases compared to the same period last year.

Two childcare centres – PCF Sparkletots Boon Lay and Sunflower Preschool @ Balestier – have seen more than 10 cases and prolonged transmission. PCF Sparkeltots Boon Lay, located at Jurong West, has seen a total of 16 HFMD cases from Mar 3 to 12.

Health experts said current trends suggest that the number of weekly cases may continue to remain higher than last year’s.

More information can be found at the Health Ministry’s website.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

March 20, 2015
Desmond Choo Returns To NTUC, Likely To Take Over Mah Bow Tan

Mr Desmond Choo is rejoining the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

The 37-year-old, who resigned from NTUC in May 2013 as its deputy director of industrial relations, is set to make a comeback as NTUC’s new director of youth development next month, after a foray into the private sector.

Besides the new post, he will also be appointed deputy director of industrial relations, and will be involved in other aspects of union work such as implementing wage ladders for industry sectors, said NTUC in a statement.

Mr Choo quit after failing to win the Hougang single constituency seat in the 2011 General Election, and again in the 2012 By-election.

While his return to NTUC could see Mr Choo being fielded again by the People’s Action Party (PAP) as a labour candidate at the next General Election, it is unlikely that he will be returning to contest the Hougang seat, which has been a Worker’s Party stronghold since 1991.

In September last year, Mr Choo was named as the second adviser to grassroots organisations in Tampines East, a ward in Tampines GRC. The ward’s MP is former national development minister Mah Bow Tan, 67, who stepped down from the Cabinet after the 2011 elections.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 20, 2015