‘This shows the Courts are fair & just’ — Netizens react to Court of Appeal verdict on AHTC case; WP leaders acted in good faith in waiving tender

On Wednesday (Nov 9) the Court of Appeal said that the leaders of the Workers’ Party who had run the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) had acted in good faith in deciding to waive the tender for a managing agent after the General Election in 2011 but added that the WP leaders and some of the senior employees are liable to AHTC for negligence in specific aspects of the payments process.

This has been seen as an exoneration of sorts for the WP leaders, former and current secretaries general Low Thia Khiang and Pritam Singh, respectively, as well as party chair Sylvia Lim.

The AHTC saga began in 2013 after FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) was appointed as the managing agent. Because FMSS had been founded by WP supporter Ms How Weng Fan, this was questioned by the ruling party over a possible conflict of interest.

In 2016, “improper payments” of over S$33.7 million were found by accounting firm KPMG to have been paid to the managing agents.

The WP leaders were later involved in a lawsuit by an independent panel, who had acted on behalf of AHTC to claim back that amount.

In 2019, the High Court found the MPs, town councillors and senior employees of the AHTC and FMSS liable for some of the claims made against them by the AHTC and the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC), which had also filed a suit against Messrs Low and Singh and Ms Lim over losses that had reportedly incurred during the time that WP ran Punggol East constituency.

However, the decision of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday has in large part overturned the earlier High Court judgement, as it found that the WP town councillors and senior employees do not owe AHTC fiduciary duties, but have been liable only for negligence in certain respects.

Netizens commenting on the verdict from the apex court praised Singapore’s judicial system for the fairness it had shown in the matter.

“My faith with the SG’s judiciary has been largely restored,” a Redditor commented.

“In the main WP got a happy ending 90% in the clear,” one Reddit user wrote.

“Hopefully this puts a rest to the entire saga and our gov can finally move on from this mountain-mole hill situation…,” wrote another.

/TISG

Court of Appeal asks parties in AHTC case to address issues concerning fiduciary duties