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SINGAPORE: The Health Ministry overpaid nearly S$180,000 of financial aid to people without realising they had died.
This was one of public fund lapses uncovered by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO), according to a 6-page report by the Public Accounts Committee, a parliamentary watchdog which scrutinises the annual financial statements of government bodies.
On Thursday, 10 months after the AGO made its report, the Public Accounts Committee released its findings on the remedial actions that have since been taken.
The Public Accounts Committee's report highlighted the various lapses of three government ministries, a statutory board and the Supreme Court.
The Health Ministry was particularly cited for overpaying S$178,150 of financial aid to beneficiaries who had died. After being informed of the lapse, the ministry said it had since recovered S$85,200.
However, the rest remains unclaimed since the policy is not to recover payouts made up to 3 months of a person's death.
The ministry said it will review its policy of allowing a grace period, and has since agreed to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs to obtain death records of beneficiaries on a monthly basis.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also found to have S$1.56m of unclaimed medical bills. These were incurred since 2003, during three overseas missions. The Ministry says it is currently filing the claims to its insurance company.
The AGO's 2006/07 accounting report on ministries, statutory boards and government-owned companies also said that it uncovered unnecessary expenditure of S$30,789 by the Supreme Court for replacing glass panels. Administrators have since recovered the amount from the contractors.
The Manpower Ministry was also found to have made excessive advances to a building management agent. The ministry said the law does not allow it to claim interest on the excessive advances paid.
However, a new contract, effective 2006, states that payments can only be made after works are carried out by contractors. Other safeguards, such as a banker's guarantee, are also in place to make sure advances to contractors can be recovered.
The InfoComm Development Authority was found to have mismanaged cash surpluses.
Under the current legal system, not all government bodies are required to be inspected by the Auditor-General.
But the latest report recommends an expansion. So the Auditor-General will look into 18 statutory boards in the coming financial year, an increase from the previous 13. - CNA/ir
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