Progress Singapore Party (PSP) has called on the Ministry of Finance to implement systemic reforms following the release of the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) financial year 2024–2025 report on 9 September 2025.
The party noted that AGO had, for the second year running, flagged irregularities in quotations for “star rate items”, with concerns this year focused on PUB after similar issues were found at the Ministry of Education and NParks last year.
PSP stated the recurring lapses indicate systemic vulnerabilities across agencies rather than isolated cases.
Calls for systemic reform
In its statement, PSP rejected assurances that agencies had already “reviewed and strengthened their internal procurement processes and stepped up training of their officers”.
The party said it is insufficient for the Ministry of Finance to rely on piecemeal improvements.
Instead, it urged the ministry to explain what systemic changes will be applied across the public service.
“Singaporeans have a right to be confident that public monies are being spent responsibly and that the government’s procurement system is transparent and accountable,” the statement said.
Police investigate PUB contract lapses after AGO finds possible irregularities in audit report
AGO highlighted serious lapses at PUB, including falsified documents in a S$7.95 million contract for biocide supplies.
Contractors were required to provide laboratory certificates verifying specifications, but auditors found altered copies that gave a false impression of compliance.
All six soft copy certificates examined showed discrepancies in formatting, versioning, and content compared with the original hard copies.
AGO warned that the alterations obstructed audit work and undermined confidence in PUB’s documentation.
PUB has tightened procedures, begun internal checks, and referred the matter to police. The agency emphasised that water quality was not affected.
AGO also found irregularities in quotations for 23 of 25 “star rate items” in a PUB waterscape construction contract valued at S$6.75 million.
The questioned items, worth S$148,900, accounted for 94 per cent of the contract value checked.
The watchdog raised doubts over the authenticity of quotations and whether value for money had been achieved.
Wider lapses across government
These PUB cases were among 25 major lapses identified in AGO’s 2024–2025 audit, out of 132 findings overall. Broader issues highlighted included weak procurement oversight, lapses in revenue management, and IT system vulnerabilities.
At the Ministry of Education, AGO uncovered misuse of Post-Secondary Education Account funds between 2021 and 2024. A training provider withdrew S$116,200 through duplicate or excessive claims, in some cases without student enrolment.
MOE has since recovered the money and introduced Singpass authentication for withdrawals.
AGO also flagged untracked visa fees amounting to S$1.02 million at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
These were collected by honorary consuls but not accounted for as government revenue.
Separately, the Ministry of Manpower was cited for weaknesses in its Work Pass Integrated System that could jeopardise data security.
Research funding scrutiny
AGO examined S$654.96 million in Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 grants, commending good governance practices but highlighting potential conflicts of interest.
Concerns included senior officials endorsing their own funding requests.
Agencies such as A*Star and the National Research Foundation have since tightened rules to avoid self-endorsement.
Government pledges corrective measures
The Ministry of Finance said the government takes a serious view of the findings and pledged to strengthen oversight, enhance training, and improve cross-agency sharing of best practices.
Auditor-General Ng Wai Choong stressed that the lapses are being addressed seriously, and AGO will continue to monitor remedial action.
The report was submitted to the President on 2 July and tabled in Parliament on 8 September before being made public on 9 September.
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