Monday, June 21, 2010

SMRT is responsible, BUT so is our government!

I am disappointed that our Minister put the blame on the recent security lapse solely on SMRT. Why is our government shrinking from taking on part of the responsiblilty?

If the incident was not just about the train being vandalised, but a bomb was planted on it and it blew up killing hundreds of passagers during the morning peak hours. Would not the government be answerable to the major lapse in national security and public safety? Why should the government wants the public to take a different view over this incident?

Public transport such as train has always been the favourite target for terrorists in other countries, such as UK, Japan, India.... In fact our MRT had also been the target of terrorists' plot some years back.

SMRT is not just any private organisation. Their depots are gazetted as protected areas show that they are at high security risk. SMRT is the major service provider of public transport. Is not national security and public safety the responsiblility of the government then?

Even with good security management system, it is the people running it that make or break it. Where the system is not maintain and protocol not follow, all will come to nothing.

Should not the government conduct indepenent audits on SMRT to ensure compliance with the 'framework' provided?

Who deploy those police officers at SMRT trains? If these officers are deploy by our police force, then how can the government said that SMRT security is solely the company's responsibility?

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