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SINGAPORE: Weaknesses in the Housing and Development Board\u2019s (HDB) eligibility checks for season parking – involving nearly S$25 million (US$19.4 million) in improperly approved applications – and lapses in contract management under the Ministry of Health (MOH) were among the issues flagged by the Auditor-General\u2019s Office (AGO) in a report published on Wednesday (Jul 15).<\/p>\n
For the 2025\/2026 financial year, AGO audited government financial statements covering 16 ministries and eight organs of state, along with three statutory boards, four government-owned companies and two other accounts.<\/p>\n
Across these entities, auditors identified lapses in areas ranging from contract and revenue management to oversight in grant administration and financial controls. Weaknesses were also flagged in IT controls and possible irregularities in records provided for audit.<\/p>\n
Several ministries and agencies, including HDB and MOH, have made police reports.<\/p>\n
HDB featured prominently in this year\u2019s report, with auditors flagging weaknesses in its eligibility checks for season parking and family season parking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These involved applications and renewals totalling about S$24.99 million that were approved despite applicants not meeting the criteria.<\/p>\n
Auditors also found that commercial vehicles were charged incorrect season parking rates, resulting in an estimated S$1 million in under-collection of fees.<\/p>\n
The AGO also noted that HDB did not exercise adequate oversight of its contractor engaged to provide patrol and enforcement services for its car parks. As such, HDB may have overpaid about S$9.7 million for patrol and enforcement services that were not performed.<\/p>\n
Beyond parking, the audit found weaknesses in HDB\u2019s eligibility checks for housing initiatives such as the Married Child Priority Scheme, the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) scheme and the CPF Housing Grant scheme, resulting in flats allocated and grants disbursed to ineligible applicants.<\/p>\n
There were also issues with contract management, including errors in the valuation of works under the Home Improvement Programme and possible irregularities in quotations for star rate items – referring to items for which rates are not listed in a contract.<\/p>\n
HDB said it takes AGO’s findings seriously and has taken “immediate steps” to rectify the irregularities identified and strengthen its processes and controls.<\/p>\n
An audit of a medical facility project under the Ministry of Health (MOH) – identified as the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) building – found multiple lapses in contract management and financial governance.<\/p>\n
Work on the building started in 2013 and was completed in 2022.<\/p>\n
The AGO flagged issues in the handling of construction and consultancy contracts by \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bMOH Holdings (MOHH), which is the holding company for Singapore\u2019s public healthcare institutions.<\/p>\n
These included approvals obtained only after works had begun or been completed, and fees not computed in line with standard procedures.<\/p>\n
There were also weaknesses in the valuation of contract variations, resulting in an estimated net overpayment of S$363,300 as well as loss and expense payments totalling S$2.2 million not properly substantiated, the AGO said in its report.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also noted a lack of due diligence checks before the final account was issued. Despite being aware of its internal audit\u2019s findings on contract management lapses, MOHH proceeded to issue the final account and recommended that MOH make payment,\u201d AGO added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt subsequently reopened the final account to address the internal audit findings and new variation works. Overall, there was inadequate assurance that full value had been obtained for the public funds spent on this project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Separately, MOH was found to have called and awarded 12 tenders and a quotation worth about S$30.8 million before obtaining required approvals, in some cases even before in-principle approval for the project – contravening Ministry of Finance rules.<\/p>\n
The ministry said in response to the AGO report that it takes the findings “very seriously” and has since taken steps to address the lapses, adding that there was no indication of deliberate wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
“MOH and MOHH will continually strengthen our systems and controls to ensure rigour, consistency, and accountability across all ongoing and future projects, to prevent recurrences of the lapses highlighted in the AGO report,” the ministry said.<\/p>\n
At the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA), auditors found lapses in efforts to prevent excluded individuals and certain categories of employees from gambling.<\/p>\n
According to the AGO, between Apr 1, 2023 and Mar 31, 2025, a total of 120 excluded individuals were allowed to enter casinos.<\/p>\n
Among them, 107 had entered casinos 1,100 times in total, with some repeat entries only flagged months later. They were subsequently reported by casino operators to GRA.<\/p>\n
Thirteen cases went unreported.<\/p>\n
Another 26 individuals were allowed to enter despite exceeding monthly visit limits.<\/p>\n
Separately, 79 Singapore Pools accounts linked to excluded individuals were not closed, with 32 of them placing over 1,300 online bets worth about S$75,800 from Apr 1, 2024 and Dec 31, 2025.<\/p>\n
The lapses were attributed mainly to data and system issues, including outdated identification records and gaps in automated screening.<\/p>\n
Authorities said these have since been rectified as of February, and investigations into possible offences by the excluded individuals are ongoing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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SINGAPORE: Weaknesses in the Housing and Development Board\u2019s (HDB) eligibility checks for season parking – involving nearly S$25 million (US$19.4 million) in improperly approved applications…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}