SINGAPORE — The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and MediaCorp have jointly established an emergency broadcasting system (EBS) at the SCDF Headquarters.

Revealing this at the annual SCDF Parade today (Sept 15), Second Minister for Home Affairs, S Iswaran said the EBS allows the SCDF to override all MediaCorp’s free-to-air radio and television programming at any time to broadcast time-sensitive emergency messages.

He said the system will be used only during an incident that poses an immediate threat to lives of the affected population, such as a chemical leak.

Mr Iswaran said the EBS was used to broadcast the SCDF message on all MediaCorp’s radio stations and direct transmission of its television channels following the island-wide sounding of the Public Warning System at 12.05pm today.

Mr Iswaran described the system as another significant milestone for the SCDF in its mission to keep Singapore safe and secure, and said it is also a testament to the good relationship established with MediaCorp.

He also gave an update on the SCDF’s marine fire-fighting capabilities.

Mr Iswaran said the Brani Marine Fire Station will be ready by the end of this year, while a third marine fire station will be built at Tanah Merah by 2015.

Also from today, Singapore’s fire station personnel will be wearing the newly introduced badges of their respective fire stations. CHANNEL NEWSASIA