No evidence of falsification of records in core maintenance groups: Khaw

SINGAPORE – Beyond the building and facilities maintenance group whose members have been taken to task, SMRT has not found any evidence of "falsification or wilful dereliction of duties" in its core railway maintenance and engineering departments.

This was revealed by Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 7) in a ministerial statement on the Oct 7 flooding incident at Bishan MRT station.

The core groups oversee the maintenance of trains, signaling, communications, tracks, trackside equipment and power. The building and facilities maintenance group makes up a tenth of SMRT Trains’ total staff strength, said Mr Khaw.

On Monday, SMRT confirmed – following the completion of its internal investigation - that maintenance records for the flood pump system at Bishan station had been falsified between last December and June this year.

Mr Khaw said the six-member maintenance team responsible for the Bishan flood protection system comprised a manager, an engineering supervisor and four crew members. The supervisor and crew members were in charge of maintaining pumps and other facilities in 15 stations from Sembawang to Dhoby Ghaut, while the manager was responsible for supervising and ensuring that work had been carried out.

Of the six, three of them had been with the train operator for over 20 years, with one in employment for more than 28 years. The remaining three were with SMRT between one year and eight years, Mr Khaw said.

The operator had said that disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against the six employees, while another seven managerial staff from the same group – including two executives at the vice-president level – have been suspended and will face a further inquiry for their "supervisory responsibility" in the lapses.

The building and facilities maintenance group was headed by vice-president Ng Tek Poo, who has since been removed from his position and suspended.

Mr Khaw said that among the other six managerial staff members who have been suspended were Mr Ng's predecessor – a vice-president overseeing the unit in charge of maintaining the pump systems before May this year – and a chief engineer, a deputy director and three managers.

Investigations by the Land Transport Authority into the incident will take a few more weeks to complete, said Mr Khaw.

In his speech, Mr Khaw commended SMRT chairman Seah Moon Ming for emphasising that management was responsible for setting the right culture of professionalism and excellence, and taking steps to review the remuneration of senior management.

Both workers and management are responsible for the success of their company, he reiterated. "I would like to stress that growing the right culture is the responsibility of everyone – from the top leadership to the workers. I will look to the SMRT management to set the right tone of professionalism and excellence, to complement the audit systems that are being put in place. This is the Singapore way," he said.