SINGAPORE: There were 606 fire safety violations in Singapore last year, a jump of 152 per cent from 2007.
According to annual statistics which were released on Wednesday by the
Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), offences included obstructing
fire escapes and storing flammable material without a licence.
Colonel Anwar Abdullah, director, Operations Department, Singapore
Civil Defence Force, said: "One of the fundamental reasons is that the
owner is still not very sure as to the fire safety requirements. So we
are taking all the effort to educate them."
In homes, rubbish bin fires went up by a worrying 55 per cent.
As part of SCDF's education programme, banners will be put up in the heartlands soon.
There are also plans to boost ambulance services by expanding existing arrangements with the private sector.
The SCDF has been engaging private ambulance operators to be part
of the national resource should a major situation arise. It's already
looking at proposals from six private operators.
Colonel Anwar Abdullah continued: “Some of the requirements they need
to fulfil are the equipment. They have to comply with certain
requirements which is stipulated by us and MOH and the level of
competence and training of the staff who'll be responding with us."
The selected operator will be expected to provide 10 ambulances to
complement SCDF's existing fleet of 40 and start operations from June.
- CNA/vm
times are bad..