| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: It is nearly a year since Singaporean Jemaah Islamiyah fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from Singapore's Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC).
The Home Affairs Ministry says all recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry (COI) - set up to look into possible security lapses at the centre - have been followed up and implemented.
Shortly after Mas Selamat's escape in February last year, the COI made 10 specific recommendations to rectify weaknesses it had found in the WRDC's operational systems and processes. Among the recommendations was that a new detention centre be built and located in Changi Prison.
In a written update to Parliament on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said the new detention centre will be completed in five years. The Internal Security Department (ISD) and the Prisons Department are working out the details.
The COI's recommendation to shift the detention centre to the Changi Prison Complex will, among other things, ensure that security and prison operating standards of the detention centre are always tied to best practices.
At the same time, the ISD can tap into the Prisons Department's medical and food logistics for its detainees.
On command and control in WRDC, the committee recommended that the ISD assume overall command and control of WRDC. Mr Wong said this has been implemented.
The ISD is now overall in charge of operations at the WRDC, including all security matters, even as the Gurkha Contingent continues to undertake the specific responsibility of guarding the complex.
The WRDC superintendent, who is an ISD officer, has oversight of the procedures and practices of the Gurkha guards.
Enhanced communication comes in the form of regular meetings among the WRDC Administration, the Gurkha Contingent guards and the ISD Operations Group.
The WRDC has also developed a detainee risk profile system for the Gurkha guards.
Apart from enhanced communication, regular ground exercises and security audits are also carried out.
For example, in September 2008, WRDC conducted a table-top exercise with the Gurkha Contingent with regard to the operational response plans for major incidents. Such exercises are now institutionalised as part of the WRDC's operations.
In addition, there are now three levels of security audits involving a new security section at WRDC, a separate ISD audit and an external one by the Prisons Department.
The security section conducts weekly audits of various processes, especially those involving detainees. The ISD unit conducts independent monthly audits of WRDC. It will also conduct annual comprehensive security reviews of WRDC.
The Prisons Department conducted its first external audit in December 2008. It will submit its findings directly to the home affairs minister.
- CNA/ir
|
