The Ministry of National Development (MND) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) made a joint statement on May 20 over the controversy over setting up Community Care Facilities (CCF).

There had been allegations online of "profiteering and corruption" involved in setting up one such facility at the Singapore Expo.

Surbana Jurong (SJ), an infrastructure consulting firm owned by Temasek, released its own statement on May 19 refuting those allegations.

Work done on a cost recovery basis or below cost

The ministries called the allegations "false and malicious" and explained the thought process behind the setting up of these facilities.

The government worked out a strategy to care for Covid-19 patients at different stages of the infection.

Patients with mild or no symptoms, or recovering patients discharged from hospital, made up the majority and were housed within CCFs.

These facilities, along with Government Quarantine Facilities and Community Recovery Facilities, had to be built and set up within days. The ministries said:

"The Government thus asked Temasek to help at short notice. Temasek was approached because it had the necessary resources, to be marshalled, at short notice, through its subsidiaries. Temasek agreed to assist, and also agreed that the work done by Temasek and its linked companies, would be done at cost recovery basis , and in some cases, below cost.

There will be no profit made by Temasek and its linked companies for the work done. The Temasek linked companies agreed with these arrangements."

Singapore Expo was a group project

Temasek identified Expo as a suitable location for a facility, which now has 8,000 beds. Temasek then got Surbana Jurong to set things up.

Temasek also asked other companies to help, such as PSA International, and external vendors like Certis Cisco. But it was MND that liaised with the various companies and vendors on the payments:

"The Ministry of Health (MOH) worked with Temasek and the other entities on the healthcare requirements and needs for the CCF site. Once these were confirmed, the Ministry of National Development (MND) liaised with the entities on the payments for the development of the Singapore EXPO CCF.

This is because MND has also been liaising with other parties to pay for the provision of other facilities, like the dedicated Stay-Home Notice (SHN) facilities."

Temasek did not charge management fees, Ministry of Manpower not involved in choosing Surbana Jurong

Temasek confirmed that their linked companies would only charge for direct expenditure, at cost:

"For all the work done by Temasek, it did not charge any management fees, and has only invoiced MND for expenses paid to third parties. Temasek also confirmed that its linked companies, including SJ will only charge for direct expenditure, at cost. Some aspects were charged at below normal cost.

For example, Temasek told the Government that SingEx Venues Pte Ltd, which manages the Singapore EXPO, will not charge the full capex cost, since the EXPO was not being used for normal business anyway."

Some of the online allegations noted that Teo Eng Cheong, CEO (International) of Surbana Jurong, is married to Manpower Minister Josephine Teo.

MND and MOH responded as such:

"The Ministry of Manpower and the Minister for Manpower were not involved in the selection of SJ (or any of the parties) to participate in the development of the Singapore EXPO CCF, and were not involved in the process of managing the costs of the project."

Surbana Jurong provided its services to develop Expo into a CCF at cost, without any profit or management fee.

It added that the government will respond to allegations of corruption:

"The Government accepts that legitimate questions can be raised about the spending, and is fully prepared to explain why and how money was spent. However the Government will respond firmly and appropriately to any scurrilous allegation of corruption."

Top image from Mothership.