Watered Down Answers

Opposition MP Mr Low Thia Khiang had simply asked Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan for a breakdown of the cost of water produced by the PUB, and tariffs charged to households.

Instead of a straight forward answer, Balakrishnan blistered and blustered,"...it's not a simple matter of how much it costs to buy water from Malaysia or to even get water from a desalination plant. You have to pay for the cost of entire system. It's all very transparent, it's laid before Parliament."

What he laid before Parliament was that total revenue collected was about $1.2 billion in FY2010, compared to $1.34 billion in total expenditures. PUB collected $674 million in water tariffs and $327 million in waterborne and sanitary appliance fees. "That's nowhere near $1.3 billion", according to the accounting challenged minister. What he omitted to highlight was the Water Conservation Tax of 30% (of $674 billion), and the GST applied on top of the grand total (that's tax upon tax, i.e. double charging). Close enough.

Given his dismal credibility of the YOG record, what we really need is a full disclosure of the expenditures. Recall the free condoms distributed on site to horny athletes and the expenses lavished on Canadian volunteer Milan Fischer, 68, whose leg cram ended up a with 4-hour open-heart operation for an aortic dissection, inclusive of hospital and recovery stay charges. Monies expended for a Youth Olympics.

Each year, the government has to provide a grant to water agency PUB to support its investments. We just what to make sure the money is invested on Singaporeans.