MFA Spokesman's Comments - Reference to Dileep Nair by the Independent Inquiry Committee led by Paul Volcke

MFA SPOKESMAN'S COMMENTS

REFERENCE TO DILEEP NAIR BY THE
INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE LED BY PAUL VOLCKER

In response to media queries, the MFA Spokesman said:

"It is difficult to understand what the fuss is about.

The Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) claims that Mr Dileep Nair had misrepresented the duties to be performed by his former Special Assistant, Mr Tan Tay Keong, to obtain funding for the post from the Oil for Food Programme (OFFP). But Mr Nair's point that Mr Tan's work "did benefit the [OFFP] Programme" is not disputed by the IIC. And Mr Nair's 30 July 2001 note to the UN's Financial Controller made it clear that Mr Tan would be performing many duties, including but not limited to OFFP work. The decision to fund Mr Tan's post from the OFFP was not made by Mr Nair but by UN's Financial Controller with full knowledge of the facts.

The IIC was set up to look into allegations that billions of dollars had been mismanaged or siphoned off from OFFP. It is baffling that the IIC has chosen to nit pick on a trivial difference of interpretation of one official's job scope, something for which Mr Nair was not responsible."

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
30 MARCH 2005