Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, May
10
SINGAPORE: The Health Ministry overpaid nearly
S$180,000 of financial aid to people without realising they had
died.
This was one of public fund lapses uncovered by the
Auditor—General’s Office (AGO), according to a 6—page report by the
Public Accounts Committee, a parliamentary watchdog which
scrutinises the annual financial statements of government
bodies.
On Thursday, 10 months after the AGO made its report, the Public
Accounts Committee released its findings on the remedial actions
that have since been taken.
The Public Accounts Committee’s report highlighted the various
lapses of three government ministries, a statutory board and the
Supreme Court.
The Health Ministry was particularly cited for overpaying
S$178,150 of financial aid to beneficiaries who had died. After
being informed of the lapse, the ministry said it had since
recovered S$85,200.
However, the rest remains unclaimed since the policy is not to
recover payouts made up to 3 months of a person’s death.
The ministry said it will review its policy of allowing a grace
period, and has since agreed to work with the Ministry of Home
Affairs to obtain death records of beneficiaries on a monthly
basis.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also found to have S$1.56m
of unclaimed medical bills. These were incurred since 2003, during
three overseas missions. The Ministry says it is currently filing
the claims to its insurance company.
The AGO’s 2006/07 accounting report on ministries, statutory
boards and government—owned companies also said that it uncovered
unnecessary expenditure of S$30,789 by the Supreme Court for
replacing glass panels. Administrators have since recovered the
amount from the contractors.
The Manpower Ministry was also found to have made excessive
advances to a building management agent. The ministry said the law
does not allow it to claim interest on the excessive advances
paid.
However, a new contract, effective 2006, states that payments
can only be made after works are carried out by contractors. Other
safeguards, such as a banker’s guarantee, are also in place to make
sure advances to contractors can be recovered.
The InfoComm Development Authority was found to have mismanaged
cash surpluses.
Under the current legal system, not all government bodies are
required to be inspected by the Auditor—General.
But the latest report recommends an expansion. So the
Auditor—General will look into 18 statutory boards in the coming
financial year, an increase from the previous 13.