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SINGAPORE: The Sengkang City Council (SKTC) has appointed an independent panel to handle matters related to the pending court appeals involving the Pasir Ris-Punggol City Council (PRPTC), SKTC said on Tuesday (September 8).
This comes before an upcoming transfer of all PRPTC assets and liabilities related to the Pasir Ris-Punggol area that is now part of Sengkang GRC.
On Saturday, the SKTC, led by the Workers’ Party, appointed Senior Advisers Kenneth Tan and Lok Vi Ming, as well as Associate Law Professor Kevin Tan, to exercise their powers to make all decisions related to appeals, said the city council on Facebook.
“The independent panel will at all times act independently and impartially in the best interest of SKTC. The members have also agreed not to receive remuneration for their services,” he said.
Workers’ Party Chairman Pritam Singh, Chairman Sylvia Lim and former Chief Low Thia Khiang were held responsible by a judge last October in a landmark case investigating misuse of city council funds, in a lawsuit filed by PRPTC. and the Aljunied-Hougang City Council (AHTC). .
The defendants filed an appeal in November and a court of appeals hearing was set for September 18.
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SKTC said the appointment of an independent panel reinforces its previous public statement that the city council is “fully committed to ensuring that all decisions made in relation to the handling of appeals are fair, transparent and in accordance with the law.”
He also expressed “deep appreciation and gratitude” to the three panelists for agreeing to take on their appointments.
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Following the Workers’ Party victory in Sengkang in the 2020 general election, assets and liabilities related to the area under PRPTC that had been absorbed by Sengkang GRC will be transferred to SKTC on October 28, including relevant legal procedures.
Previously, PRPTC took over Punggol East from the AHTC, led by the Workers’ Party, when the People’s Action Party won the constituency in the 2015 general elections.
The district was then carved out to form the new Sengkang GRC in the 2020 general election, along with the old Punggol East SMC, part of Sengkang West SMC, and the Sengkang Central division of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
2 SENIOR COUNSELORS AND PUBLIC LAW STUDENT
Mr. Tan is a founding partner of the Kenneth Tan Partnership and was one of the first senior counselors appointed in 1997. He graduated with first-class honors from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1983.
Mr. Lok, also a senior attorney, is the managing director of LVM Law Chambers, which he formed. He served as President of the Law Society of Singapore in 2013 and 2014.
Dr. Tan is an adjunct professor at NUS Law School, as well as the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, and a “prominent public law scholar,” SKTC said.
According to their terms of reference, panel members will not be remunerated by SKTC, but can be reimbursed for expenses related to their work, including payments for legal advisers or other experts, as well as a secretary if required.
The terms also establish that the decisions made by the panel will be determined by a majority vote of the three members, who are prohibited from abstaining, except when there is “an irreconcilable conflict of interest” that cannot be resolved in advance.
