Monday January 22, 8:17 PM
SCDF will enhance capability to combat "terror" vehicles
The Singapore Civil Defence Force will be enhancing its system to prevent vehicles transporting hazardous materials (hazmat) to be used as terrorist weapons.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee says the movement and location of such vehicles can currently be tracked effectively by the SCDF.
Strict measures have also been put in place to regulate the transportation of hazmat vehicles in Singapore.
However, the current system cannot immobilise these vehicles and prevent potential terrorists from driving them into a target.
Mr Ho says: "Currently, whilst the tracking system can detect an errant hazmat vehicle, it cannot immobilise the vehicle to prevent a determined terrorist from driving it into a target.
"Hence we now have plans to roll out the progressive installation of immobilisers on these hazmat vehicles to enable SCDF to remotely activate them to stop the vehicles by shutting down the engine safely. We will implement this plan over a one-year period, starting from April this year." - CNA/ch