Lta awards $29 m contract to company that does not declare finances to acra

[h=1]LTA AWARDS $29 M CONTRACT TO COMPANY THAT DOES NOT DECLARE FINANCES TO ACRA[/h]
Post date:
25 Jan 2015 - 12:57am








In late 2012, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) awarded a $29 million road expansion project along Braddell Road to a local engineering company Hexagroup. The project will change the dual three-lane road to a dual five-lane road including a flyover to the Braddell Underpass. It should alleviate traffic at two junctions at Toa Payoh Lorong 1 with 6, and Toa Payoh Lorong 1 with 4.
However, there have been no works done over the past 2 weeks and the project has been stopped. It is unlikely that the project will be completed by year end as targeted. It is unknown if Hexagroup have gone bust but sources familiar with the company are saying they are facing cash flow problems.






The 18 year old company have posted a $50.1 million profit in 2006 and a $4.6 million loss in 2007. Thereafter it stopped declaring its financial information to Singapore's national regulator of business entities ACRA for the past 7 years. The company could not be reached for comments despite several attempts by Straits Times reporters.
Interestingly, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) continues to allow Hexagroup to bid for projects not exceeding $40 million and the LTA awards its contract to a company that does not declare their profit and loss statements to ACRA.
The $29 million project will most likely be taken over by another contractor, and it is unknown how much more taxes will be lost due to the changing of contractors. As this is the second time in 2 years that contractors of public works have gone bust, it has become questionable if LTA have done its due diligence checking the financial background of its tender bidders.
Contractors going bust not only waste millions of taxpayers' monies but also creates inconvenience to the public in the form of traffic diversion and pollution due to project delay that normally stretch for just a few months.

makapaaa said:

[h=1]LTA AWARDS $29 M CONTRACT TO COMPANY THAT DOES NOT DECLARE FINANCES TO ACRA[/h]
Post date:
25 Jan 2015 - 12:57am








In late 2012, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) awarded a $29 million road expansion project along Braddell Road to a local engineering company Hexagroup. The project will change the dual three-lane road to a dual five-lane road including a flyover to the Braddell Underpass. It should alleviate traffic at two junctions at Toa Payoh Lorong 1 with 6, and Toa Payoh Lorong 1 with 4.
However, there have been no works done over the past 2 weeks and the project has been stopped. It is unlikely that the project will be completed by year end as targeted. It is unknown if Hexagroup have gone bust but sources familiar with the company are saying they are facing cash flow problems.






The 18 year old company have posted a $50.1 million profit in 2006 and a $4.6 million loss in 2007. Thereafter it stopped declaring its financial information to Singapore's national regulator of business entities ACRA for the past 7 years. The company could not be reached for comments despite several attempts by Straits Times reporters.
Interestingly, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) continues to allow Hexagroup to bid for projects not exceeding $40 million and the LTA awards its contract to a company that does not declare their profit and loss statements to ACRA.
The $29 million project will most likely be taken over by another contractor, and it is unknown how much more taxes will be lost due to the changing of contractors. As this is the second time in 2 years that contractors of public works have gone bust, it has become questionable if LTA have done its due diligence checking the financial background of its tender bidders.
Contractors going bust not only waste millions of taxpayers' monies but also creates inconvenience to the public in the form of traffic diversion and pollution due to project delay that normally stretch for just a few months.

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Who are the shareholders and senior management of Hexagroup?

he contractor responsible for the stalled $29 million project to widen Braddell Road has come under fire for delays in two more public projects.

Home-grown Hexagroup has to widen, deepen and pave over 14km and 11km of drains in the Seletar and Lorong Melayu estates respectively, after winning two tenders from national water agency PUB in 2011.

But it has not been able to finish either on schedule. Industry sources say the 18-year-old company has been facing cash-flow issues.

Work in both estates were supposed to be completed by the end of 2013, but an extension until the first quarter of this year was granted after it was unable to meet the deadline.

"In the last few months, we noticed that work has slowed down due to manpower shortages faced by Hexagroup," said PUB.
Most of the drains had already been covered and paved over when The Straits Times visited the Seletar estate on Wednesday. Work was still ongoing along Seletar Road.

On some street corners, drains were open and barricaded, with rusty steel bars poking through the concrete.

Residents said these drains had been left open for almost half a year and posed a safety hazard. "It's also choked with plants," said self-employed Sandy Sim, 50, pointing to an open drain beside her corner terrace in Jalan Lekub.

It is large enough for a man to fall into.

Other residents said workers from the firm had told them that it did not have enough money for their salaries.

"I asked the workers why work had stopped and they told me, 'Boss never pay'," said 72-year-old retiree Kim Ng, adding that she had also been told by the firm's representatives that it was facing manpower issues.

Both Madam Ng and Madam Sim have called the contractor and authorities to complain, but said nothing has been done.

Calls to Hexagroup's office, and the firm's director and shareholder Lim Hong Leong's home went unheeded.

The company enjoyed a profit of $50,116 in 2006. But in 2007, it posted an after-tax loss of $4,605, according to government business records.
Hexagroup did not make any more profit-and-loss statements to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority after that year.

Meanwhile, the PUB said it was exploring options to get the work completed, including getting a new contractor.

"In the meantime, PUB will ensure that daily housekeeping and pest-control work at the areas where work has yet to be completed will continue," said its spokesman.