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[h=2]MND’s review of TC’s software sale to $2 AIM delayed[/h]
April 2nd, 2013 |
Author: Editorial
Dr Teo Ho Pin, coordinating chairman of 14 PAP TCs
The review of the controversial sale of the town council software to PAP-owned company Action Information Management (AIM) has been extended to the end of April.
Facing mounting pressure from the public, PM Lee ordered MND to review the sale in Jan 2013, just 1 day before calling the Punggol East by-election which PAP eventually lost to WP. Mr Lee said then that the review was expected to take 1-2 months.
MND did not say why the review was extended.
In a reply to the media, an MND’s spokesperson said yesterday (1 Apr), “MND has been actively engaging the town councils and AIM on their transactions and is examining the statements and inputs given to its queries.”
“The MND team has also been examining the documents and interviewing various relevant persons.”
WP Sylvia Lim confirmed that she and her team had met MND officials at their request to make clarifications on her town council’s written submission.
AIM chairman Chandra Das and coordinating chairman of PAP-run town councils Teo Ho Pin, however, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the PAP-run town councils have put up a new tender to develop and maintain their town council computer systems.
Three IT companies with a sizeable presence in the local IT industry have bid for the contract:
The existing contract between AIM and the PAP Town Councils will end on 30 Apr 2013.
AIM did not participate in the bidding of the new contract but according to Dr Teo Ho Pin, the coordinating chairman of the 14 PAP Town Councils, it did help to prepare the new tender specifications for the town councils.
The estimated tender amounts by the 3 companies range from $16.8 million to $31.5 million.
NCS won the previous contract to develop and maintain the PAP town councils’ computer system from 2003 to 2010. In 2010, PAP decided to sell the computer system software to a third party and lease it back, thereby transferring the ownership of the software system to the third party.
PAP called an open tender in 2010. NEC Asia and NCS were two of four firms that took the tender documents but decided not to bid for it. In the end, it was AIM Pte Ltd, a $2 company belonging to PAP which won the bid to buy the software for $140,000, thereby becoming the new owner of the software. AIM then leased the software back to the PAP Town Councils for $785 per town council per month. The lease ends on 30 April 2013.
However, in 2011, when the Workers’ Party (WP) captured Aljunied GRC, AIM terminated the software lease to Aljunied-Hougang Town Council so that WP could not use the software. It caused inconvenience to WP.
According to the latest tender specifications, bidding firms are required to have an annual turnover of at least $10 million and a paid-up capital of at least $1.5 million, to meet the S9 financial grade of the government supplier registration guidelines.
It’s strange that AIM, in helping PAP town councils to craft the new tender specification, requires companies to have a paid-up capital of at least $1.5 million to be qualified to bid when itself with a paid-up of only $2 was able to win the earlier tender in 2010.
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The review of the controversial sale of the town council software to PAP-owned company Action Information Management (AIM) has been extended to the end of April.
Facing mounting pressure from the public, PM Lee ordered MND to review the sale in Jan 2013, just 1 day before calling the Punggol East by-election which PAP eventually lost to WP. Mr Lee said then that the review was expected to take 1-2 months.
MND did not say why the review was extended.
In a reply to the media, an MND’s spokesperson said yesterday (1 Apr), “MND has been actively engaging the town councils and AIM on their transactions and is examining the statements and inputs given to its queries.”
“The MND team has also been examining the documents and interviewing various relevant persons.”
WP Sylvia Lim confirmed that she and her team had met MND officials at their request to make clarifications on her town council’s written submission.
AIM chairman Chandra Das and coordinating chairman of PAP-run town councils Teo Ho Pin, however, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the PAP-run town councils have put up a new tender to develop and maintain their town council computer systems.
Three IT companies with a sizeable presence in the local IT industry have bid for the contract:
- NEC Asia Pacific
- HCL Singapore
- NCS, a wholly owned subsidiary of the SingTel Group
The existing contract between AIM and the PAP Town Councils will end on 30 Apr 2013.
AIM did not participate in the bidding of the new contract but according to Dr Teo Ho Pin, the coordinating chairman of the 14 PAP Town Councils, it did help to prepare the new tender specifications for the town councils.
The estimated tender amounts by the 3 companies range from $16.8 million to $31.5 million.
NCS won the previous contract to develop and maintain the PAP town councils’ computer system from 2003 to 2010. In 2010, PAP decided to sell the computer system software to a third party and lease it back, thereby transferring the ownership of the software system to the third party.
PAP called an open tender in 2010. NEC Asia and NCS were two of four firms that took the tender documents but decided not to bid for it. In the end, it was AIM Pte Ltd, a $2 company belonging to PAP which won the bid to buy the software for $140,000, thereby becoming the new owner of the software. AIM then leased the software back to the PAP Town Councils for $785 per town council per month. The lease ends on 30 April 2013.
However, in 2011, when the Workers’ Party (WP) captured Aljunied GRC, AIM terminated the software lease to Aljunied-Hougang Town Council so that WP could not use the software. It caused inconvenience to WP.
According to the latest tender specifications, bidding firms are required to have an annual turnover of at least $10 million and a paid-up capital of at least $1.5 million, to meet the S9 financial grade of the government supplier registration guidelines.
It’s strange that AIM, in helping PAP town councils to craft the new tender specification, requires companies to have a paid-up capital of at least $1.5 million to be qualified to bid when itself with a paid-up of only $2 was able to win the earlier tender in 2010.
.
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