People sit next to a pond with a view of the Singapore CBD skyline in the background. (PHOTO: Getty Images)
SINGAPORE – The National Steps Challenge purchased over 341,000 fitness trackers, resulting in a $ 5.39 million waste by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) said.
In its annual report on the state accounts for the 2020/2021 financial year, published on Thursday (July 22nd), the AGO found that “management and control weaknesses in some public bodies” including the HPB, the National Heritage Board (NHB) and the department for the public service (PSD).
For its latest report, the AGO audited the annual financial statements of all 16 ministries and eight state bodies; 11 statutory bodies; four state-owned companies; and two other accounts.
The report highlighted key areas where government and agency failures were identified during the audit. These included:
-
Deficiencies in management and weaknesses in controls
-
Deficiencies in procurement and contract management
-
Weaknesses in IT controls
-
Need for improvement in the management of facility management contracts
-
Possible irregularities in the records submitted for the audit
In the case of HPB, the fitness trackers were purchased for seasons 1 to 5 of the National Steps Challenge, which ended one to five years before the audit. Test reviews found around 268,000 trackers worth $ 4.26 million that were not used.
Following a full inventory census back in January this year, HPB found there was a surplus of 341,000 trackers for a total of $ 5.39 million.
The report found that HPB’s processes were inadequate to monitor fitness tracker movement and ensure that tracker inventory was being properly recorded.
“Receiving and distributing trackers involved manual processes and multiple external parties. There was no central monitoring of the movement and inventory of the trackers, the records kept were incomplete and there was no regular comparison of the records with the physical inventory, ”said the VOR.
The story goes on
Other failures
For the PSD, which manages the medical and dental services for Singapore’s civil service, AGO’s review has uncovered flawed claims.
This included those paid to ineligible civil servants or pensioners and their dependents; Medisave contributions to ineligible officials; and entitlements for expenses incurred at facilities not on the approved medical facility list. The AGO also noted that there may have been duplicate claims, split claims, and circumvention of dental claims rules.
“In total, the AGO found around 9,500 possible incorrect applications. While this was only 0.3 percent of the total of 3 million applications processed during the review period, the estimated potential government overpayment was not small at around $ 0.5 million, ”the report said.
With regard to the SA, the AGO pointed out weaknesses in the management of the organisation’s documents relating to inheritance material. This included deviations in the records maintained in the systems as well as in the manual records.
“Good records management is important because you rely on records of heritage materials to track, inventory and report in the financial statements,” said the AGO.
There were also possible irregularities in the records submitted for review by the Department of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), Department of Education (MOE), Department of Interior (MHA), Housing and Development Authority (HDB) such as the People’s Association (PA) , so the AGO.
For MCCY, AGO found that the evidence for claims showed evidence that they may be photocopies of each other with changes in the date and duration of the services provided.
For MOE and MHA, the report indicated that there were some cases where documents submitted showed evidence that they were created or backdated to meet AGO’s requests.
During HDB’s audit, test reviews of offers to assess the adequacy of Star Rate items – items for which tariffs are not listed in a contract – found evidence that some of the offers may have been created or modified to accommodate them indicate that they were obtained from other suppliers.
In the case of PA, possible anomalies included signs of possible forgery of offers, changes to paper payment receipts, and the creation and back-dating of documents.
The AGO added that the responsible authorities have carried out their investigations into the failures and, if necessary, filed a police report.
Stay up to date on the go: join the Yahoo Singapore Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
More Singapore stories:
River Valley High Death: 97% of Students Returned to School Wednesday – MOE official
Marina Bay Sands Casino is closed for 15 days due to a new COVID-19 cluster
Return to Phase 2 (HA) due to the Jurong Fishery Port Cluster: Ong Ye Kung
Of 181 new COVID cases in Singapore, 138 are linked to the Jurong Fishery Port and KTV clusters
“Individual responsibility” outweighs enforcement in the fight against COVID: Police, MSE
