Bt Panjang LRT System Down Again

Bt Panjang LRT service was hit not once but thrice on Monday, 10 March 2003.

The whole system stalled at 12.05pm after a power failure. It affected all stations and power was restored at 12.20pm.

An earlier power surge forced all the automatic trains to be driven manually between Keat Hong and Phoenix stations until 3.30pm.

Another train also experienced brake trouble at Phoenix LRT stations just before 2pm and had to be moved to the depot.

Free bus service was activated at 2.26pm along the LRT route and the LRT service was resumed at 2.39pm.

This is not the first time SLRT met with such problems.

Since it started operating in November 1999, the SLRT system has broken down about 50 times.

In October last year, a breakdown in the system halted train services for five days.
As a result, the SLRT system was given six months to improve by Land Transport Authority (LTA) in January this year.

The president and chief executive of SMRT, the parent company of SLRT, Saw Phaik Hwa admitted, "The SLRT has not been a very good example of performance."

A comprehensive review of the entire LRT system is in place. Meanwhile, passengers can call the SLRT hotline at 68936455 for LRT fare refunds.

~~ Liu Yun ~~

A Cisco guard was gunned down by his former colleague at a building in Woodlands.

Mr Rahim Othman, 47, a Cisco guard was killed by his former colleague, Mr Ismail Abdul Rahman, 37, at the SingTel Bukit Panjang Telephone Exchange on Friday, 7 March 2003.

He was shot 3 times with his own revolver, twice on his chest and once on his right leg. His kidney and intestine were hit by the bullets.

Mr Rahim alerted the Cisco's operations room after being shot. The police were then notified. He was still conscious when the police arrived and told the police the identity of the assailant.

He was rushed to National University Hospital but was pronounced dead at 12.34pm, less than 7 hours after he was shot.

Mr Ismail turned himself in at the Hong Kah North Neighbourhood police station with the revolver and the leftover bullets less than 3 hours after the shooting and now faces a murder charge.

Cisco had terminated Mr Ismail's job after he was absent from work for a week.

It remains unknown how the assailant had entered the protected area at Woodlands and the locked gates of the guardroom.

Cisco, the police and SingTel are conducting internal reviews of whether the security arrangements of the protected area are adequate.

Mr Rahim's funeral was held on Sunday and over a hundred Cisco officers, friends and relatives of the victim attended the funeral, including Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob.

Colleagues all spoke of Mr Rahim's good work ethic including Cisco Jurong Division's commanding officer Tay Cheng Suah, who commented, "He was a good and very responsible officer, always ready to go to wherever he was assigned."

Mr Rahim leaves behind his wife and three other children, aged between seven and 18.