Deficit or surplus?

Deficit or surplus?

At the WP rally on Saturday, Mr Low held up a printout of the town council's accounts for April 2013, claiming it showed a deficit of more than S$280,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said on the sidelines of a walkabout yesterday that $22.5 million in cash had been handed over to the town council after the WP won the seat. The sum included sinking funds and project funds.

Mr Teo: "Mr Low very dramatically showed one page of the accounts - there are 20 over pages in the accounts." "If you look at the whole set, we were very careful to hand over everything that was due to our residents here. We wanted to do right for them." WP did not raise any issues during the handover, Mr Teo added.

Mr Zainal Sapari, chairman of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPGTC), explained the state of the account during the handover in a Facebook post yesterday.

Mr Zainal: "Although there was a deficit in the accumulated routine fund of $282,009, the same set of accounts also showed an amount of $303,372 claimable as reimbursement from the CIPC* fund, which PRPGTC had already secured for Punggol East SMC.

"This was made known by PRPGTC to AHPETC at the point of takeover of Punggol East's accounts and monies, which would give an actual net surplus of $21,363."

At WP's rally yesterday evening, Mr Low said in Mandarin that the PAP says there's a $1 million surplus.

Mr Low: "Today, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Zainal said there's only $21k surplus. But everyone can see from the April 31, 2013 Operating fund statement, there's clearly a $280,000 plus deficit. We're waiting for PAP to clarify."

WHAT IS CIPC?

The CIPC is the Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) which provides funding support for infrastructural and recreational facilities, including general amenities for the benefit of residents in the whole constituency.

The Ministry of National Development said this in a written reply to a 2013 parliamentary question tabled by WP's Pritam Singh.

MND also said that CIPC funds are disbursed through the Citizens' Consultative Committees (CCCs).

This is because they are close to the ground and will be better able to decide on the projects that will be most useful for the local residents.

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This article was first published on September 7, 2015.
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