|
News Room |
||
Comments from the Minister for Home Affairs at the Dialogue with the Business CommunityDate : 24 January 2005 Comments from the Minister for Home Affairs at the Dialogue with the Business Community on 24 January 05 24 January 05 1 The security situation today remains serious. The terrorism waged by religious extremists today is a complex inter-connected trans-national phenomenon. Even as local groups pursue their own historical agenda, of for instance separatism, many of them, whether as groups or as individuals, also pursue the Al Qaeda agenda of global jihad against those whom Al Qaeda defines as the enemies of Islam. In the face of such a globalised threat, every country's security is inter-linked. So, although domestic threats in Singapore are low, terrorism remains a credible and real threat to Singapore so long as the region we are in continues to have terrorists and extremist teachers running loose, training in hideaway camps and preaching a message of hate. Likewise, the region we are in will continue to be threatened so long as hotspots elsewhere like in Iraq continue to inflame the zeal of extremists and terrorists elements everywhere to fight what they call a "holy war". 2 For these reasons, we in Singapore cannot be immune from this threat. However, we can do everything possible to thwart it and to minimise it. And in order to achieve this effectively, we need to be prepared and to make Singapore a hard target. 3 At the Dialogue organised by the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore National Employers Federation, the Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng told the business community that we must make Singapore a hard target by achieving "in-depth security" as a country. Protecting the iconic targets or vital installations is necessary but not enough. We need to also look at the security of civilian and everyday areas where we live and play. However, with limited resources, Governments need to create depth in its security by working with individual citizens and corporate citizens - they have to get the people empowered to take ownership over the security of their own domain. This partnership is vital if Singapore is to be secure and resilient in the current security environment. Minister said, "An example of this has been the deployment of CCTVs in select key areas - the Police maintain CCTVs in the public areas and the commercial and private establishments maintain their own CCTV systems inside their premises. " 4 Minister commended the encouraging response of the business community in adopting target-hardening measures since the last dialogue in September two years ago. For example, response has been good for the Security Watch Group programme launched by the Police in September 2003 to involve commercial buildings in target-hardening measures. A total of 402 buildings are currently in the programme, and this includes high-risk buildings and some buildings cased by the Jemaah Islamiyah. Minister also revealed that in surveys carried out by the Police in November 2003, 80 per cent of building management surveyed had guards deployed at entrance/ car park, had a response and recovery plan in place and had recently reviewed their CCTV system. More than 70 per cent conduct checks on persons entering the premises and about 50 per cent have installed barricades to prevent charging vehicles. 5 At the Dialogue, Minister told the participants of two specific programmes that the Home Team is presently exploring, namely the development of a Building Security Code and Registration of Key Appointment Holders. 6 On building security code, Minister told the business community that it is best to consider security early on in the planning stage. Otherwise when the buildings are completed, we can only retrofit and make do with sometime less-than-ideal security arrangements. Minister referred to a booklet that the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is producing to help building owners enhance the safety of their buildings and of the "Enhancing Building Security" Seminar organised by BCA in end March. 7 Minister also told the business community that the Police are looking into creating a register of key personnel of buildings, eg CEOs, security managers. In the event of a terrorist attack, this register will help the Police to quickly locate these critical pre-identified staff who are in the best position to advise and assist our response forces with their knowledge of their domains. 8 We are doing whatever is practicable and necessary. As we review and widen our scope of review, we want to draw in more stakeholders and empower them in building up security in their own areas. This way, we can deepen security as a country and make Singapore a hard target.
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS |
||
