Auditor-General takes some ministries to task

by Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid

Aug 04, 2010
SINGAPORE - At one welfare home, valuables and nearly $13,000 cash belonging to
residents were kept in cardboard boxes and shopping bags in the superintendent's
office.
There was also the case of a resident, who was then under psychiatric care, payi
ng a lawyer an unusually high "reward" for recovering her landed property and he
lping to sell it - at 40 per cent of the selling price of the property.
The Auditor-General's Office informed the Ministry of Community Development, You
th and Sports and the matter has been referred to the police.
These were some of the findings by the Auditor-General's report for the financia
l year 2009-2010 released yesterday, which showed up lapses and weaknesses in th
e internal controls over the management of public funds in several ministries an
d Government agencies.
Also cited by the report was the misuse of Government payouts meant for patients
at six nursing homes. For instance, one of the homes used the money to buy gen
eral supplies and equipment such as wheelchairs and safety vests.
The nursing homes had been briefed by the Ministry of Finance on how they can he
lp their patients encash their payouts, with the ministry making clear that the
payouts belonged to the residents and should be disbursed to them (corrected at
8:05PM, Aug 4).
As for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it had over 50 cases of overpayment of s
alaries, bonuses, over-time claims, medical and dental subsidies to mission staf
f, as well as double payment of medical expenses.
One area of concern was the need for greater vigilance in IT security.
Security lapses were found in the Government accounting system - "NFS@Gov" - adm
inistered by the Accountant-General's Department.
Over 640 end-user accounts were wrongly given access rights to an application de
signer tool. Some of the accounts allowed users to modify programs or records in
the system.
There was also an unauthorised testing of a computer system at the Accounting an
d Corporate Regulatory Authority that saw two invoices generated with incorrect
amounts.
The report reiterated that the lapses should not be seen as reflecting the gener
al quality of the internal controls in the bodies concerned but they do point to
the need for greater vigilance, especially in IT security as Government ministr
ies and statutory boards are extensively computerised.
A horizontal audit across statutory boards to identify gaps and shortcomings in
governance framework and practices was also conducted.
And it was observed that, in general, statutory boards had in place systems and
processes for governance.
The Public Accounts Committee will study the report and, where necessary, partic
ular ministries would have to account for the lapses reported.
Ministry of Defence
Wastage of about $22,000 in public funds. At two randomly-selected camps, 63 ins
tances of excess meal orders were covered up by cookhouse personnel or serviceme
n through the falsification of meal consumption records. Disciplinary action has
been taken against them.
Ministry of Home Affairs
Singapore Police Force did not collect $648,000 in revenue. Between 1997 and las
t year, town councils and statutory boards were not charged the $25 fee for enfo
rcement of each warrant of arrest.
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
Donations of $34,907 went to the accounts of voluntary welfare organisations ins
tead of three welfare homes.
Ministry of Finance
Between 2005 and last year, misuse of an estimated $1.19 million in Government p
ayouts meant for nursing home patients. One home treated the money as its revenu
e. Another five used it to pay for medical treatment and charges incurred by pat
ients, without their authorisation.
Ministry of Health
Need to review implementation aspects of means-testing for Eldercare Fund. Check
s of six nursing homes found a number of instances of non-compliance with the gu
idelines on means-testing, including not obtaining due approval for granting fin
ancial assistance without means-testing, not reporting such cases to the ministr
y and not-carrying out means-testing in the prescribed manner because of practic
al difficulties in obtaining income information. The ministry is continuing to e
nhance the framework and penalise intermediate and long-term care institutions i
n cases of non-compliance if necessary.
Subordinate Courts
Late refund of cash bail. As of Aug 31 last year, 46 cases amounting to $440,450
were outstanding for periods ranging from 41 days to 1,694 days (the guideline
is up to 23 working days for refunds).
Prior to that, 59 refunds, amounting to $571,500, were found to have been refund
ed 49 days to 340 days after the court cases had concluded. Action has since bee
n taken to refund the money and tighten processes.