The National Solidarity Party (NSP) has called the public transport-related accidents in recent weeks “unacceptable”.
In a letter e-mailed to Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Friday evening, NSP’s secretary general Hazel Poa requested for accountability from the Ministry of Transport (MOT).“The recent spate of events involving fatal casualties as a consequence of bus-related accidents concerns us all,” she wrote. “The safety of commuters and passengers has been compromised.”
Two accidents have occurred in the last two weeks – a 9-year-old boy sustained injuries after being hit by an SMRT bus in Woodlands, four days after an SBS bus hit and killed an elderly woman in Sengkang. The 66-year-old was walking across a pedestrian crossing when a bus made a right turn at the junction and knocked her down.
Last December, over 10 passengers on an SBS bus were stranded for about two hours after its driver took a detour to avoid a traffic jam but ended up losing his way.
Said Poa, “Although the public has received a response from both SBS and SMRT following questions about hiring practices and employment quotas, NSP feels that the information that has been made public does not address the root cause of this disturbing trend, nor does it offer solutions that can eliminate it and ensure the safety of commuters.”
NSP also asked for MOT to provide “statistics on on the incidence of public bus-related casualties over the past decade” to confirm if there has been an “unprecedented rise in the occurrence of such accidents”.
“If such a trend has indeed been identified, has the Ministry recognised it and what is the Ministry doing to pinpoint and eliminate the cause of this trend?” Poa questioned.
Poa also raised the party’s doubts on the ministry’s decision to set aside S$1.1 billion to fund a significant expansion of bus capacity under Budget 2012.
“This sudden and drastic increase in the demand for bus drivers will likely result in the engagement of more non-Singaporean bus drivers unaccustomed to our road system and safety practices… (and) could result in our road users’ safety being further compromised.”
“It is irresponsible to continue treating the recruitment of bus drivers as a strictly private matter to be decided by the bus companies,” Poa said.
“Will the Ministry be reviewing the criteria for qualifying bus drivers and raising the bar in the interest of safety?”
Earlier this week in parliament, the issue of driver training was raised by Members of Parliament for Aljunied and Chua Chu Kang, Low Thia Kiang and Zaqy Mohamad respectively during parliament on Monday afternoon.
Minister Lui Tuck Yew replied that regardless of the nationality of the bus driver, he or she would have to be adequately trained and qualified.
"Part of the training programme is to make sure that we infuse them with the responsibility that they carry when they drive a vehicle like a bus and to make sure that they pay stringent attention to road conditions," said Lui.
He added that the foreign worker intake for the entire workforce of the two public transport operators, SMRT and SBS, was capped at 10 per cent.
On bus drivers specifically, that number was significantly higher.
61 per cent are Singaporeans or permanent residents while 26 per cent are Malaysians.
Another 12 to 13 per cent are Chinese nationals.
In a letter e-mailed to Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Friday evening, NSP’s secretary general Hazel Poa requested for accountability from the Ministry of Transport (MOT).“The recent spate of events involving fatal casualties as a consequence of bus-related accidents concerns us all,” she wrote. “The safety of commuters and passengers has been compromised.”
Two accidents have occurred in the last two weeks – a 9-year-old boy sustained injuries after being hit by an SMRT bus in Woodlands, four days after an SBS bus hit and killed an elderly woman in Sengkang. The 66-year-old was walking across a pedestrian crossing when a bus made a right turn at the junction and knocked her down.
Last December, over 10 passengers on an SBS bus were stranded for about two hours after its driver took a detour to avoid a traffic jam but ended up losing his way.
Said Poa, “Although the public has received a response from both SBS and SMRT following questions about hiring practices and employment quotas, NSP feels that the information that has been made public does not address the root cause of this disturbing trend, nor does it offer solutions that can eliminate it and ensure the safety of commuters.”
NSP also asked for MOT to provide “statistics on on the incidence of public bus-related casualties over the past decade” to confirm if there has been an “unprecedented rise in the occurrence of such accidents”.
“If such a trend has indeed been identified, has the Ministry recognised it and what is the Ministry doing to pinpoint and eliminate the cause of this trend?” Poa questioned.
Poa also raised the party’s doubts on the ministry’s decision to set aside S$1.1 billion to fund a significant expansion of bus capacity under Budget 2012.
“This sudden and drastic increase in the demand for bus drivers will likely result in the engagement of more non-Singaporean bus drivers unaccustomed to our road system and safety practices… (and) could result in our road users’ safety being further compromised.”
“It is irresponsible to continue treating the recruitment of bus drivers as a strictly private matter to be decided by the bus companies,” Poa said.
“Will the Ministry be reviewing the criteria for qualifying bus drivers and raising the bar in the interest of safety?”
Earlier this week in parliament, the issue of driver training was raised by Members of Parliament for Aljunied and Chua Chu Kang, Low Thia Kiang and Zaqy Mohamad respectively during parliament on Monday afternoon.
Minister Lui Tuck Yew replied that regardless of the nationality of the bus driver, he or she would have to be adequately trained and qualified.
"Part of the training programme is to make sure that we infuse them with the responsibility that they carry when they drive a vehicle like a bus and to make sure that they pay stringent attention to road conditions," said Lui.
He added that the foreign worker intake for the entire workforce of the two public transport operators, SMRT and SBS, was capped at 10 per cent.
On bus drivers specifically, that number was significantly higher.
61 per cent are Singaporeans or permanent residents while 26 per cent are Malaysians.
Another 12 to 13 per cent are Chinese nationals.
