A former Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer was recently convicted of receiving $1.24 million in bribes from various contractors and sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ jail. He was the deputy group director of the Thomson-East Coast and Cross Island MRT lines, with oversight over the construction of tunnels and stations.
In addition to the scale of corruption involved, this case is also a cause for concern because it is unclear if the corrupt contractors continued their work on the two MRT lines and, if so, whether the works done by these companies have been compromised in terms of safety, quality and value for money.
I have filed a Parliament question for 13 September 2021 to ask if the companies involved in this corruption case have been debarred:
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Finance regarding the case of the former LTA deputy group director convicted of receiving $1.24 million in bribes (a) whether the Standing Committee on Debarment (SCOD) has received any recommendations from CPIB for debarment action against parties involved in this corruption case; (b) if so, whether SCOD has made any decision to debar any party and the respective periods of debarment; and (c) if not, whether SCOD will proactively request for CPIB to make recommendations for debarment.
The corrupt officer had also been diagnosed with a pathological gambling disorder, and had sought loans from not only contractors but also colleagues in LTA. I asked another Parliamentary question regarding indebtedness declarations among public servants:
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Prime Minister (a) whether all public servants are required to make annual declarations of non-indebtedness; (b) if so, what is the maximum amount of unsecured loans each officer can have vis-a-vis their monthly income; (c) whether there is any obligation on the part of officers to report fellow officers whom they know have exceeded this amount; and (d) what are the consequences for non-reporting.
