SINGAPORE: National Development Minister
Khaw Boon Wan on Thursday defended the National Parks Board’s
(NParks) decision to purchase 26 Brompton foldable bicycles for its
officers.
Mr Khaw said the purchase of the bicycles was “thought to be a
simple and effective way to raise staff productivity”. His comments
came after a Lianhe Zaobao article last week on NParks’ purchase of
the bikes, each costing S$2,200.
Writing in his blog, Mr Khaw said he wondered if the statutory
board had made the right decision and asked NParks and a few
regular users of foldable bikes for their views.
NParks explained that the demand on its staff to do field
inspections has gone up “sharply” with each staff in the Park
Connector division covering 30 kilometres to 40 kilometres a day,
said Mr Khaw.
Providing staff with bikes was thought to be a simple and
effective way to raise staff productivity, he said, as it enables
the officer to cover more ground and do more inspections within the
same time. A foldable bike would also eliminate the need for an
office van to transport the bikes and the staff to the areas of
their daily rounds, he noted.
“A good foldable bike is hence considered an appropriate
equipment for such staff. It offers us maximum operational
flexibility in terms of usage and deployment,” Mr Khaw wrote.
He further added that NParks clarified it “had no particular
brand in mind” and “was open to considering all brands”. However,
at the close of the quotation, only one vendor responded with two
options, offering Brompton and another brand at a higher price.
After some research, NParks proceeded with buying the bicycles
as the bid price was lower than the listed retail price of the same
model.
While NParks bought the right equipment, Mr Khaw said NParks
“might have gotten a better deal if there was greater participation
in this quotation”.
“I have asked MND staff to discuss this
case with our agencies, to see if there are lessons which we can
draw from this case,” he added.
“In all purchases we should always satisfy the criteria of
‘value for money’ when public funds are involved.”
from cna
