The cross-examination of Workers' Party (WP) MP Sylvia Lim, former Chairman of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), continued on Oct. 22.

During the afternoon session, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, representing the plaintiff Pasir Ris Punggol Town Council, questioned her about information that was not communicated to other members of AHTC.

It was a continuation of his theme from the morning session.

Was FMSS' appointment a done deal?

Davinder referred to the town council meeting on Aug. 4, 2011, and asked who was acting as the Managing Agent at that time.

Lim replied that it was FM Solutions & Services (FMSS), as the handover from the previous Managing Agent, CPG, had taken place earlier on Aug. 1.

It had previously been established that FMSS had a Letter of Intent dated June 15, 2011, to take over the staff of Hougang Town Council (HTC) and begin providing Managing Agent services for Hougang.

Davinder then asked if the Deed of Mutual Release had been signed with CPG at that point.

Lim said that it had not, and that it was signed on Aug. 11, 2011.

But she made the point that both sides had agreed that the Mutual Release would take place with effect from Aug. 1.

Davinder pressed on the point that as of Aug. 4, the Deed had not been signed, and therefore there was no binding agreement. Replied Lim:

"I disagree, the parties had already been committed."

With that said, Davinder then referred to the minutes of the Aug. 4 town council meeting.

Exercising authority, but had doubts

The late Danny Loh, a majority shareholder of FMSS, had given a presentation during the meeting about FMSS as the Managing Agent for the town council.

However, Davinder noted that the minutes referred to his presentation as FMSS's "proposal" and that Loh had expressed his appreciation for the "award" of the role of Managing Agent to his company.

Said Davinder:

"What award? Wasn't it already decided and awarded two months previously?"

He added that if it had been a binding agreement, then the takeover of FMSS would be treated as a done deal, and not a proposal for confirmation.

Lim replied:

"I was exercising my delegated authority, but I had some doubts as to whether the authority was unlimited with regards to the amount (of the fees for taking on HTC staff). So I wanted the town council to record the decision."

Davinder asked if the Letter of Intent was tabled at the meeting, to which Lim replied no.

Davinder then said:

"You gave the town council the impression on 4th August that there was no time to call for a tender, because of the position that AIM and CPG put (you) in."

He added that it was a plan among the elected MPs to get rid of CPG and AIM, and do it themselves, and that the suggestion that this was done in the public's interest was "dishonesty at its height."

Lim rejected this "characterisation", and said that she had decided to exercise her authority as Chairman to waive the tender in the public's interest.

She added that the town council knew of her decision, and that her decision was "endorsed" at the meeting on Aug. 4.

FMSS' rates

Davinder moved on to another point. He pointed out that in Lim's report to the town council for the Aug. 4 meeting, she did not include the rates agreed upon with FMSS for becoming Managing Agent.

Davinder said that since there was a waiver of tender, it was important for the town council to know the exact rates that FMSS was charging. He asked why Lim did not inform the town council.

Lim said that while it was true that she did not attach the rates to her report, she said there was nothing "sinister" about it and that the key thing was FMSS would take over at CPG's prevailing rates.

She agreed that it was the duty of the Chairman and other members of the town council to inform the entire council of the rates so they could make an informed decision on FMSS' appointment.

Davinder asked if she agreed other MPs breached their duty

Davinder asked if she agreed that she breached that duty, as well as the other elected MPs who knew of the rates, as the council was not told.

Said Lim:

"In the sense that I should have included rates in my report, I agree ... The primary duty is on me, as I was presenting the proposal."

Davinder asked again if the other MPs also breached their duties, since they were present at the meeting and did not inform the council.

Lim replied that the others had left the presentation to her.

Then followed a lengthy 30-minute exchange between Davinder and Lim, with the former repeating his question and the latter giving the same answer.

At one point, Lim said:

"The key issue is that the town council wasn’t incurring additional costs when FMSS took over at CPG’s existing rates."

Davinder responded by asking Lim to answer his original question.

Lim said that it was an "inadvertent omission" on her part, and could not agree that the other MPs had breached their duties.

After repeated questions and some pauses, including Justice Kannan Ramesh stepping in to ask Lim to respond, Lim agreed with Davinder that by failing to disclose FMSS' rates at the meeting, the other MPs did not do their duty.

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Invoices made to town council

On a similar note, Davinder referred to two invoices that FMSS had sent to the town council for payment.

The first was sent in June for reimbursement of staff costs, and the second in July for Managing Agent fees for part of the month, based on the Letter of Intent.

After some calculation, Davinder came up with a figure of about $150,000. He said that these were fees that ought to have been communicated to the town council during the Aug. 4 meeting.

Lim said that her report mentioned that FMSS will engage HTC staff on June 15, but it did not include the exact date on which the town council would be charged for reimbursement.

However, Davinder asked why did Lim not include the payments in her report.

Lim replied that it did not occur to her, and that it was not done deliberately.

Davinder said that Lim could not afford to have the town council reject the appointment of FMSS, as this would have resulted in "severe disruption" to the residents, who would be bereft of a managing agent.

While Lim agreed that there would be severe disruption to residents without a managing agent, she said she did not know about Davinder's point that she could not afford for this to happen.

Davinder said that she breached her duties and was prepared to withhold information to obtain the approval for FMSS's appointment. Lim disagreed with this.

Lim is expected to take the stand again on Oct. 23.

Related story:

Top image by Sulaiman Daud.

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