Civil servants buying properties close to planned MRT stations: Government assessing whether there was misconduct
The Government is currently reviewing if there was actual misconduct in cases highlighted in a study on civil servants buying properties close to future MRT stations, the Public Service Division (PSD) of the Prime Minister's Office said on Friday (Sept 25).The study, a working paper under the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) circulated in September, had reported a statistical association between civil servants and the homes they purchased near planned MRT stations prior to public announcements regarding the stations.It looked at cases from 2007 to 2011, and determined proximity to be within a 1km radius from future MRT stations within the period.Stressing that PSD takes the paper's assertions seriously, it said that the patterns reported are concerning."But statistical patterns do not by themselves establish whether any individual officer actually had access to non-public information on MRT station locations at the relevant time, or whether such information influenced a property purchase," PSD said.