Sylvia Lim

WP chairman Sylvia Lim rejects MND review finding on AIM deal

Workers' Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim has rejected the Ministry of National Development's (MND) finding that residents' interests had not been compromised in a deal between People's Action Party (PAP) town councils and the party-owned company, Action Information Management (AIM).

In a strongly-worded speech in Parliament, Ms Lim questioned numerous aspects of the AIM deal, including the terms of the tender, the nature of AIM and the one-month termination clause in the event the town council changed hands.

On the tender, she suggested no software company here could fulfil it other than AIM, because it required all directors to have town council experience. She also said there was no reason given for the need for the one-month termination clause - and added that the MND report did not address this issue.

"MND fell short in not admonishing the PAP TCs for risking disruption to the public in the name of politics," she charged on Monday, during the debate over a ministerial statement on town councils.

During the speech, Ms Lim said that WP MPs were committed to being politically accountable to voters for town management under the current regime, as set out in the Town Councils Act.

She also offered suggestions for the upcoming review on town councils on restricting the sale of a town's critical assets, such as its IT system, to external vendors and longer termination periods in the event of a handover.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.