SINGAPORE MAY ADOPT WHISTLE-BLOWING POLICY

SINGAPORE, Feb 11 (Bernama) -– Singapore’s Finance Ministry has been urged
to spell out a whistle-blowing policy for adoption by government statutory
boards.

The call was made by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in light of recent
fraud cases involving information technology procurement at the Singapore
Land Authority (SLA) and two other public sector bodies.

In the cases, several senior and top officials of the departments were
alleged to have swindled the government millions of dollars, including one case
involving a former deputy director at SLA who had allegedly misled the
government, involving more than S$12 million.

In its report to Parliament released Thursday, the PAC said the
whistle-blowing policy could possibly help the management in identifying fraud
from within, such as employees informing management of suspicious tell-tale
signs.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam informed Parliament in November last
year that whistle-blowing had a role to play in uncovering fraud and therefore,
it was necessary to ensure that channels were open for whistle-blowing.