The Workers' Party may be the most established opposition party in Singapore but it cannot escape the hands of our men in white. Three elected members from WP are facing 2 law suits brought by Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC). For those who are not aware, they were accused of making improper payments by Managing Agents to 3rd party contractors from 2011 to 2015.
At first, the media painted WP Town Councillors in a bad light for changing its MA without tender so that it could benefit its supporters. However, it was recently disclosed that the former MA, CPG, was unwilling to continue its services in the first place. So does this mean that WP had no choice but to get a new MA? Wasn't it a choice borne out of necessity?
On top of this, the TC's management system, AIM, was pulled out at the last minute. Can the WP be entirely blamed then, for its so called TC "mismanagement"?
In a Facebook post, WP's Daniel Goh defended that there were bound to be mistakes because they were treated like this and left with no choice. He said that any political handover is undoubtedly going to be difficult in the span of a few months. Is it thus too much to find fault with them for trying to settle things quickly?
"When PAP MP Sitoh Yih Pin was elected in Potong Pasir in 2011, he had to appoint a Managing Agent quickly to ensure continuity of services for residents. He persuaded EM Services to step in to provide the service at short notice... but he told me that it was a trying time for him and his team.
So if Mr Sitoh had problems taking over a small SMC that had been self-managed by Mr Chiam See Tong, what more the WP MPs taking over a big GRC whose managing agent was unwilling to continue the work?"
How can they expect a perfect standard when they deprive WP Town Councillors of so many things? How can they leave them and Singapore residents in the lurch? Is this how they serve our interests? Who is the bad guy now?
#InGoodFaith
