Oral Reply to Parliamentary Questions on Auditor-General's Office (AGO) audit findings on PUB

Questions:

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Ministry can provide details of its internal investigation that was conducted in relation to the irregularities discovered in PUB contracts; and (b) what are the interim measures being taken to strengthen the governance process.

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what are the findings from PUB’s internal investigation into the case of falsified documents flagged in the recent Auditor-General’s Report for FY24/25; and (b) what are the measures which PUB will put in place to prevent future recurrences.

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in respect of the Auditor-General’s Office's audit observations on PUB (a) whether there is systemic weakness in PUB's contract management and procurement practices; (b) how many officers has PUB taken disciplinary action against; and (c) what disciplinary actions were taken against the officer found to be involved in the alteration of records.

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Public Utilities Board (PUB) management intends to strengthen its internal processes in the short-term to ensure no further lapses in light of audit findings by the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) for FY24/25; (b) if so, how; and (c) whether AGO’s findings will affect the progress of affected works.

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in light of AGO’s findings relating to falsification of documents at PUB (a) what disciplinary actions have been taken against the officers involved; (b) what is the status of PUB’s internal investigation and identification of the root cause; and (c) how will PUB improve to address the root cause beyond training of officers.

Answer:

1 Mr Speaker, may I seek your permission to take the oral Parliamentary Question (PQ), Question No 18 from today’s Order Paper together with the two related PQs by Mr Xie Yao Quan and Ms Poh Li San that are scheduled for later Sittings? In addition, I will address two written PQ filed by Mr Foo Cexiang and Mr Shawn Loh for the 22 and 25 September 2025 sittings respectively. These five PQs relate to PUB’s contract management lapses highlighted in the recent Auditor-General’s Office Report.  I will respond to these questions together, so that I can give a comprehensive reply on the root cause of the lapses and the measures taken to strengthen controls.

2 My Ministry takes the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) findings seriously and has conducted comprehensive internal investigations into the contract management lapses contained in the report.

3 AGO raised concerns over the authenticity of quotations provided for 23 items of variation works, or star rate items, under a construction contract for waterscape works, which amounted to a total value of $148,900. PUB has reported the matter to the police to investigate if there were any fraudulent practices involved. It has also conducted a thorough review of similar contracts and did not find such irregularities. It will follow up with its own disciplinary actions should the police investigations uncover any wrongdoing.

4 As for the case of documentation falsification, for the contract on supply of biocide, PUB has completed its internal investigation and found this to be the fault of an individual officer. The Certificates of Analysis (COAs) were altered to include required information which had been omitted. The alterations were done to cover up the incompleteness of the original documents to be provided to the AGO auditors but the contents were factual. It has issued a formal reprimand to the officer and will be downgrading the officer’s performance grade.

5 On AGO findings on the lack of comprehensive coverage of maintenance contracts for PUB’s water quality analysers at private sector plants, it was already working on addressing the gap before the AGO audit. It has since addressed the issue by using its other contracts to cover the scope of work. It installed water quality analysers as additional precautionary checks over and above the analysers installed by the private sector operators, which are in turn cross-checked daily with water sampling tests. I would like to assure the House that PUB has instituted adequate checks to ensure the delivery of clean water that is safe to drink.

6 On the lapses related to supply of stocks, PUB has identified the root causes to be:

i. Individual officers not being diligent in carrying out the required checks; and

ii. Inadequate supervision to enforce the requirements stipulated under the contracts, including verification of documents submitted by the contractors.

It has taken appropriate disciplinary action against the six officers involved.

7 PUB has taken the following steps to strengthen its processes. First, it has increased the scope of its internal audits on procurement and contract management. This includes additional checks on star rates in contract variations, and use of digital tools, including AI, to improve checks on contractual requirements and detect fraud.

8 Second, PUB has tightened the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for contract management, to ensure alignment with contractual requirements, such as requiring the submission of the original Certificates of Analysis. It has also tightened its SOPs for checks on the quality of the stocks used in its operations. It has confirmed that the quality of the stocks that it had received earlier met its requirements. It will also take appropriate action against contractors who fail to meet their obligations, including those who submit non-compliant Certificates of Analysis. Where feasible, it is automating processes to reduce reliance on manual monitoring and the risk of human error.

9 Finally, PUB will continue to share the lessons arising from AGO’s findings with all staff, as part of regular staff training and communications on procurement and contract management.