Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg
The Ministry of National Development (MND) said in its press statement on Nov. 9 that it notes the recent Court of Appeal finding with concern.
The Court of Appeal found that Workers' Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim and other Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) town councillors and employees did not act in good faith with regard to payments made to FM Solutions & Services (FMSS).
MND will monitor future proceedings
Lim and AHTC town councillors and employees made payments of S$23 million to FMSS over a period of three years, from 2011 to 2014.
MND said Lim and AHTC town councillors and employees did so despite knowing that there were "manifest conflicts of interest".
They also knew of the risk of overpayments or improper payments to FM Solutions & Services (FMSS) and/ or its service provider FM Solutions & Integrated Services (FMSI), where the Court of Appeal said the extent of this risk "cannot be overstated".
MND cited the Court of Appeal, saying that the group's payment process was a "paradigm example of poor financial governance".
The Court of Appeal has directed that parties make submissions on matters relating to damages in respect of the payments made and MND said it will be monitoring future proceedings as public funds are involved.
WP's statement
Separately, former WP chief Low Thia Khiang, current WP chief Pritam Singh and Lim published a statement on their blog "In Good Faith", where they said they were "pleased" to note that the court of appeal had found that they had acted in good faith in awarding the managing agent contract to FMSS and in awarding the contracts to certain third party contractors.
With regard to the Court of Appeal's finding that the payments to FMSS was not done in good faith, the trio cited an Court of Appeal observation, saying that the town councils' case appears to have been constructed on the perceived risks inherent in the payments process.
They added that it is not clear that AHTC or Sengkang Town Council have provided evidence of any instance where the breaches resulted in improper payments.
"We are studying the CA judgment released earlier today with our lawyers, and will take advice on the next steps."
PAP's statement
The People's Action Party (PAP) similarly released a statement on their party newsletter "Petir", saying that WP's leaders "were all aware of the manifest conflicts of interest and allowed them to persist for at least three years" was an "irrefutable truth".
While the Court of Appeal ruled that WP leaders had acted in good faith appointing FMSS as the contractor, PAP stressed that "this was the only step that was managed without contention".
They noted: "All other parts of the process and business were conducted under highly questionable circumstances. This improper business conduct enabled and allowed manifest conflicts of interest which lasted for at least three years."
"We appeal to all Singaporeans to review the judgement fully and decide for themselves whether the conduct and business practices by the WP leaders surrounding the FMSS matter were conducted in good faith or not."
PAP MP and coordinating chair of PAP Town Councils Lim Biow Chuan also released a statement on Facebook, saying: "Singaporeans have placed their trust in us to discharge our duties responsibly. Any misdeed would be a breach of the people’s trust in the entire system."
He added: "And unfortunately, this entire incident has called into question the processes, structures and authorities that are in place to help, protect and serve every resident. If there is a wrong, we have the responsibility to make right."
Background
On Nov. 9, the Court of Appeals partially overturned a previous judgment by ruling that WP leaders and others involved in running AHTC had acted in good faith with regard to some of the issues they were previously found liable for.
The WP leaders involved include Singh, Low, and Lim.
There were previously found in a 2019 High Court judgment to have breached their fiduciary duties to the AHTC.
However, the court upheld that all three were still liable to AHTC for "gross negligence" in certain respects relating to the payments process.
Hence, the issue of damages for the negligence will be dealt with at a later stage.
Related stories
Top image from Workers' Party