2 young lives lost

[Knackstop]

Originally Posted by skyleon

SMRT staff take up offer of amnesty, own up to lapses before large-scale audit

PUBLISHED 11 HOURS AGO

Adrian Lim Transport Correspondent
Royston Sim Assistant Political Editor



SINGAPORE - Staff from at least one department in SMRT have admitted to lapses in their work so far, in response to a company call to own up - without penalty - before a wide-scale audit is launched.

The Straits Times understands that the employees are from SMRT's building and facilities department, which oversees areas such as MRT tunnel ventilation, and flood and fire protection measures at train stations.

It is unclear how many staff have come forward in the "amnesty" exercise that ends on Friday (Nov 3), and which is targeted at quickly plugging gaps in maintenance operations - one of which caused the flooding of an MRT tunnel last month (October), bringing down train services on a stretch of the North-South Line for about 20 hours.

When contacted, SMRT said it was unable to comment on the amnesty offer, which was made known to staff in an e-mail a few days ago.

The offer was made to quickly establish the extent of improper practices, and to allow staff to "volunteer information in open reporting as a mitigation against further disciplinary action", SMRT's group chief executive Desmond Kuek said in a statement on Thursday evening.

SMRT has told staff that it will embark on a massive audit and inspection exercise following the amnesty period, and lapses uncovered will be dealt with.

These measures follow revelations that SMRT staff responsible for maintaining the pumps of a storm water pit at Bishan station had signed off on work that was not done. It is suspected that the falsification of the quarterly maintenance records went as far back as December 2016.

The manager and staff responsible have been suspended and are assisting in investigations, while SMRT also replaced its vice-president of maintenance a week after the flooding.

Observers said SMRT's amnesty offer is a rare move, and held mixed views on its effectiveness.

Mr William Thien, a principal consultant at EON Consulting and Training, said: "It's a good effort to identify potential gaps quickly, calling on the conscience of employees to do the right thing.

"Giving amnesty is not a common thing in companies. But given that SMRT is providing a public good, which has a great impact on public transport, I can understand why," Mr Thien added.

He said organisations mostly rely on whistle-blowing channels to bring up lapses.


continue reading here : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...ge-scale-audit


My question here is : why didn't the management go to onsite and check to see if the work was done or not before signing the service report ?

Management were on sites, but at KTV, sauna or hanging flower sites

[RobinGibb]

Originally Posted by LukasStar

Must be a difficult time to be an employee of SMRT at this time . If I were them I will stay until I get my bonus after which I will resign and look for alternative employment . Looks like SMRT only blame the workers and not the management . I feel sorry for SMRT workers .

I think so too .

[sionglim]

Originally Posted by Knackstop

Management were on sites, but at KTV, sauna or hanging flower sites

Lunch time include a good rub.

[Baigonggong]

So now if every time have thunderstorm must check to see if the tunnel is flooded ?

[sionglim]

Now got service ,but still flooded, how?
Must visual check, if dont trust electronic

[skyleon]

Delays on East-West Line due to track point fault: SMRT

SMRT advised commuters at 3.07pm to add 10 minutes to their travel time.

PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGOUPDATED 1 HOUR AGO

Charmaine Ng


SINGAPORE - Commuters along the East-West Line were hit by delays that lasted nearly 40 minutes on Saturday (Nov 4) due to a track point fault.

In a tweet at 2.53pm, SMRT advised commuters travelling from Queenstown to Jurong East stations to add 30 minutes additional travel time.

SMRT Corporation @SMRT_Singapore
[EWL]: Due to a track point fault, pls add 30mins train travel time from #Queenstown to #JurongEast. (Not linked to new signalling project).

At 3.07pm, SMRT shortened the estimated additional travelling time to 10 minutes.

SMRT Corporation @SMRT_Singapore
[EWL]: Due to a track point fault, pls add 10mins train travel time from #Queenstown to #JurongEast. (Not linked to new signalling project).
12:07 AM - Nov 4, 2017


The transport provider added that the track point fault was not linked to the new signalling project.



continue reading here : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...int-fault-smrt


Come on SMRT please don't find fault at your staff you must spend all your efforts to solve all your problems first before something serious will happen . For a start SMRT should sack the 2 jokers of your top management . Really such a world class mrt transport system run by world class jokers . So how Mr Khaw still think your mrt is reliable ? Sill want to vote for PAP ?

[sionglim]

today rain abit at town side.
Not heavy rain, mrt tomolo shld be ok

[skyleon]

How deep is the SMRT rot? 4 questions about the rail company that an inquiry could answer

SMRT announced that falsified maintenance records were behind the flooding of their tunnels that led to a major disruption.

ALPHONSUS CHERN
PUBLISHED 6 HOURS AGO

SINGAPORE - Flooded train tunnels a month ago caused large segments of the North-South MRT line to grind to a halt for over 20 hours, affecting 250,000 commuters.

In a shocking announcement last week, SMRT announced that falsified maintenance records were behind the major disruption.

Engineers tasked with maintaining the pumps quarterly had signed off without doing the work. Maintenance had not been carried out since September 2016.

In this week's Insight, Christopher Tan calls for a formal inquiry to investigate how deep the problems at SMRT are. Insight also looks at four questions such an inquiry can answer.

1. HOW PERVASIVE IS THE MALPRACTICE WITHIN SMRT?

A key issue that needs to be investigated is whether the doctoring maintenance records was an isolated incident or a widespread practice.

Last week, SMRT offered staff a two-day amnesty deadline for owning up to wrongdoing without penalty, ahead of a far-reaching internal audit. Some have already stepped forward.

The extent of the malpractice needs to be determined before the appropriate corrective action can be prescribed.

2. HOW HARD WAS IT FOR MAINTENANCE STAFF TO GET TRACK ACCESS?

An SMRT worker looks on as maintenance works are carried out on a stretch of track between Orchard and Somerset stations. ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
A senior SMRT insider told Insight that possible factors behind the maintenance breaches include complacency and difficulty in getting track access.

Because of an ongoing overhaul of the signalling and power systems of MRT lines, the slots for access to the tracks for maintenance works have been reduced.

Maintenance staff may have decided to sign off on the work after failing to secure access to tracks - banking on the fact that the pumps have never failed before.

3. SHOULD MILITARY MEN BE RUNNING THE COMPANY?

After former Chief of Defence Force Desmond Kuek became chief executive of SMRT in 2012, he brought in a number of military men to helm important departments within the company.

For example, SMRT Trains chief Lee Ling Wee used to be head of Air Engineering and Logistics with the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Chief corporate officer Gerard Koh was a colonel in the Singapore Armed Forces.

Are they the right men to be running SMRT? A former senior SMRT executive told Insight that military men may lack the experience and the deep knowledge of the rail system to tackle the company's problems.



continue reading here : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...hat-an-inquiry


The answer is so obvious .

[Convoisier]

Originally Posted by skyleon

......
3. SHOULD MILITARY MEN BE RUNNING THE COMPANY?

The answer is so obvious .

Should greedy bastards be running the country?

The answer is so obvious too.

[skyleon]

SMRT's maintenance woes: Formal inquiry needed to get to the bottom of issues

Christopher Tan
Senior Transport Correspondent

PUBLISHEDNOV 5, 2017, 5:00 AM SGT


There's a need to address questions like what prompted the staff to do what they purportedly did, and how they managed to go unchecked for so long
Lapses happen. In a big organisation like SMRT, which has some 10,000 employees, it is understandable that mistakes occur.

But it is quite another thing if workers wilfully breach standard operating procedures, as is suspected of the team in charge of maintaining the flood prevention system at Bishan depot.

One burning question is how did they get away with something as blatant as that - not once, but multiple times. The next is why did they do it?

Is this serial disregard for safety what SMRT's chief executive Desmond Kuek meant by the operator having "deep-seated cultural issues"?

When Mr Kuek first used those words, they came across as an honest assessment when, freshly minted as chief executive five years ago, he faced his first corporate crisis in the form of a bus-driver strike.

But as he repeated almost the very same words two weeks ago, at a press conference on the tunnel-flooding incident which shocked the public, they underscore the seriousness of the rot within.

Even though Mr Kuek stressed that the problem was only with one in 10 employees, where those employees are and what they do can have far-reaching consequences for SMRT.

And the fact that Mr Kuek and his team have not been able to address this problem after five years suggests that the 10 per cent or 1,000 workers within are elusive at best. That is no comfort to the commuting public.

What commuters want to know now is whether other parts of the system - be they signalling, tracks or rolling stock - are exposed to the same risks.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) as regulator - or perhaps another ministerial body altogether - must do a proper audit to see how far up the totem pole this problem goes. Does it stop at mid-level managers, or does it go higher up?


continue reading here : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...ttom-of-issues


As it is already 2 SMRT workers died on Mr Desmond Kuek watch . How many more will die or injured before he take his responsibility . We all of course thanks the generals who kept Singapore safe and sound . But they definitely are not suitable to lead a business organisation or even become an Education Minister . Getting the right people with the right skills and mindset will go a long way to any businses organisations. Civilian lives are at stake here .

[erei]

Originally Posted by sionglim

today rain abit at town side.
Not heavy rain, mrt tomolo shld be ok

Looks like we have to depend on the sky

[sionglim]

Glass door cracked, north east line

[KelongPresident]

Any flooding in MRT tunnel today ?

[localla]

last time rain not heavy, all ok till now.
Yet to see something strange happen

[Chubbie123]

i wonder why our mrt system is struck with so much tragedy. could it be the blame culture? maintainence staff skiving and fraudently signing off on work not done. or genuine overwork not enough staff and must meet kpi so just sign first without thinking of the consequences