According to a statement released by the Workers’ Party over the weekend, they claim that the Ministry of National Development (MND)’s “press release on the qualification received by AHTC from its external auditor is, unfortunately, selective and incomplete”.
Their press release, shared on their website, as well as social media, stated that, “In describing AHTC’s amber rating for Corporate Governance, MND’s press release states a “(f)ailure to maintain updated accounts and records of expenses…incurred in a timely manner. This was also the reason why the auditor had qualified AHTC’s financial statements””.
They go on to add, “What MND omits to say on this observation, but was included by AHTC’s external auditor, is that the expenses in question “are found to have been taken up into expenses and the related payables during the financial year” and that “there are no material misstatements found in the expenses and related payable transactions during the financial year””.
The last line of their press release also read, “We believe MND’s specific reference to 7 consecutive years is deliberately calculated to lower the esteem of AHTC in the public eye”.
TISG reached out to Workers’ Party chief Mr Pritam Singh, who declined to comment any further, and said that the media release on the AHTC website expanded on their reason/s.
The full press release can be found here.
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obbana@theindependent.sg