SMRT beefs up security at depots
SECURITY at train depots run by public-transport provider SMRT has been stepped up after a train in one of its depots was vandalised last month, SMRT said yesterday.
Its chief executive and president, Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, said: "We deeply regret that a serious security lapse occurred in our depot... Since the breach, we have taken immediate steps to strengthen our security and prevent a recurrence."
It has increased the number of patrols and security staff of the security companies it hires at each depot.
It will install concertina wire - large coils of barbed wire - along the perimeter of all its depots to reinforce fences, and more closed-circuit television cameras to scan the perimeters.
SMRT is working with the authorities to implement more measures to strengthen security, including more surveillance and intrusion-detection systems, said its head of security and emergency planning, Mr Choy Kin Chong.
SMRT runs train depots in Bishan, Changi, Ulu Pandan and Kim Chuan. The other train operator, SBS Transit, has a train depot in Sengkang.
Between late May 16 and early May 17, two men allegedly cut the fence at Changi Depot and sprayed graffiti on one side of a train.
SMRT made a police report only two days later.
Yesterday, it explained the delay in detecting the security breach.
It said that its staff conduct daily safety checks on the trains before they are deployed, but the staff who saw the graffiti mistook it for an advertisement.
The graffiti was recognised as vandalism and the breach in the fence was found only after the train was recalled for scheduled maintenance, it said.
Last Saturday, Swiss national Oliver Fricker, 32, a business consultant, was charged with damaging public property, vandalism and trespass.
He is out on bail and is expected in court on June 21.
If he is convicted of vandalism, he can be jailed up to three years, fined up to $2,000 and given up to eight strokes of the cane.
For trespassing, he faces a fine of up to $1,000 and a jail term of up to two years.
His alleged accomplice, British citizen Lloyd Dane Alexander, is said to have fled to Hong Kong.
Their sorrie is not Sincere; I'm looking at compensate us with Free rides for a week!
SECURITY at train depots run by public-transport provider SMRT has been stepped up after a train in one of its depots was vandalised last month, SMRT said yesterday.
Its chief executive and president, Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, said: "We deeply regret that a serious security lapse occurred in our depot... Since the breach, we have taken immediate steps to strengthen our security and prevent a recurrence."
It has increased the number of patrols and security staff of the security companies it hires at each depot.
It will install concertina wire - large coils of barbed wire - along the perimeter of all its depots to reinforce fences, and more closed-circuit television cameras to scan the perimeters.
SMRT is working with the authorities to implement more measures to strengthen security, including more surveillance and intrusion-detection systems, said its head of security and emergency planning, Mr Choy Kin Chong.
SMRT runs train depots in Bishan, Changi, Ulu Pandan and Kim Chuan. The other train operator, SBS Transit, has a train depot in Sengkang.
Between late May 16 and early May 17, two men allegedly cut the fence at Changi Depot and sprayed graffiti on one side of a train.
SMRT made a police report only two days later.
Yesterday, it explained the delay in detecting the security breach.
It said that its staff conduct daily safety checks on the trains before they are deployed, but the staff who saw the graffiti mistook it for an advertisement.
The graffiti was recognised as vandalism and the breach in the fence was found only after the train was recalled for scheduled maintenance, it said.
Last Saturday, Swiss national Oliver Fricker, 32, a business consultant, was charged with damaging public property, vandalism and trespass.
He is out on bail and is expected in court on June 21.
If he is convicted of vandalism, he can be jailed up to three years, fined up to $2,000 and given up to eight strokes of the cane.
For trespassing, he faces a fine of up to $1,000 and a jail term of up to two years.
His alleged accomplice, British citizen Lloyd Dane Alexander, is said to have fled to Hong Kong.
Their sorrie is not Sincere; I'm looking at compensate us with Free rides for a week!
