Ex-Air Force man to head SMRT Trains
SINGAPORE — A month after it hired Mr Lee Ling Wee as its Senior Vice-President of Maintenance and Engineering, SMRT has appointed Mr Lee head of its Trains group as it moves to reorganise the group’s structure.
SINGAPORE — A month after it hired Mr Lee Ling Wee as its Senior Vice-President of Maintenance and Engineering, SMRT has appointed Mr Lee head of its Trains group as it moves to reorganise the group’s structure.
The 47-year-old, a former military man, is the new Executive Vice-President for SMRT Trains. The post had been vacated by the retirement last Sunday of Mr Khoo Hean Siang, 65, a veteran of more than 25 years with SMRT. In turn, Mr Lee is replaced by Mr Ng Bor Kiat, 56, a former Director of Corporate Development for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.
The public transport operator said yesterday that it will set up individual “first-line” maintenance units for each of the North-South, East-West and Circle lines it operates, among other structural changes to its Trains group aimed at “building internal bandwidth” to “meet the future demands placed on the system”. This move will, among other things, allow each unit to flag and address all maintenance-related issues immediately, it said.
A new inspectorate will also be set up to maintain system-wide checks and balances on safety processes and outcomes, engineering practices, project management and contract procurement quality, and gathering knowledge across the Trains group.
SMRT will also create an integrated project planning team to oversee all joint Land Transport Authority-SMRT projects, as well as coordinate and organise local and overseas business development-related opportunities.
Mr Lee, in his inaugural address to SMRT Trains group staff yesterday, highlighted safety, reliability, capacity and commuter experience as his priorities.
He is the sixth person with a military background whom SMRT Chief Executive Desmond Kuek has brought onto the operator’s 20-member senior management board to help the company get back on track following two major train disruptions in December 2011 that led to the resignation of then-Chief Executive Saw Phaik Hwa.
Mr Lee was formerly head of the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s Air Engineering and Logistics Department.
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