The General Elections are expected to be just round the corner, and the recent SMRT breakdown that left about 250,000 people stranded aren't exactly scoring any brownie points for the ruling government.
The major opposition parties — Workers' Party and the Singapore Democratic Party — have since issued their own statements about the historic public transport kerfuffle, strongly calling out for better welfare of the people.
Here's what they said:
Workers' Party"The Workers’ Party is deeply worried over the 3.5 hour disruption of train services along the entire stretch of both the North-South and East-West MRT lines on 7 July 2015. The severe inconvenience caused to an estimated quarter-of-a-million commuters during the evening rush hour makes this the most serious MRT disruption in Singapore’s history.
"The latest breakdown comes on the heels of repeated assurances by both SMRT and the authorities about the improved reliability of our transport system. Yet, the number of significant train delays reached an all-time high of 12 in 2014 and stands at 8 in 2015. This is despite billions of dollars of government funds being pumped into improving the existing MRT infrastructure since 2011."We call on the authorities to enforce a more rigorous maintenance regime on the rail network, with effective measures in place to ensure that commuters’ interests take precedence over corporate profits. "
Singapore Democratic Party
"In the past, the PAP admitted that it did not have a proper plan to house foreign workers. It also showed a complete lack of understanding of the discontent of foreign workers here until the riot in Little India erupted in 2013. And even then, the police were ill-prepared to deal with the mayhem."With such a dismal record of handling 5.3 million people, how does the PAP propose to cope with 6.9 million?"A bigger population will, of course, allow the PAP government to collect more taxes and fees. But this comes at the expense of Singaporeans who have to live with the stresses and strains of an overcrowded city – the MRT breakdown yesterday being just one of the many problems the people have to contend with."
Photos: WP Facebook page; SDP Facebook page
The General Elections are expected to be just round the corner, and the recent SMRT breakdown that left about 250,000 people stranded aren't exactly scoring any brownie points for the ruling government.
The major opposition parties — Workers' Party and the Singapore Democratic Party — have since issued their own statements about the historic public transport kerfuffle, strongly calling out for better welfare of the people.
Here's what they said:
Workers' Party"The Workers’ Party is deeply worried over the 3.5 hour disruption of train services along the entire stretch of both the North-South and East-West MRT lines on 7 July 2015. The severe inconvenience caused to an estimated quarter-of-a-million commuters during the evening rush hour makes this the most serious MRT disruption in Singapore’s history.
"The latest breakdown comes on the heels of repeated assurances by both SMRT and the authorities about the improved reliability of our transport system. Yet, the number of significant train delays reached an all-time high of 12 in 2014 and stands at 8 in 2015. This is despite billions of dollars of government funds being pumped into improving the existing MRT infrastructure since 2011."We call on the authorities to enforce a more rigorous maintenance regime on the rail network, with effective measures in place to ensure that commuters’ interests take precedence over corporate profits. "
Singapore Democratic Party
"In the past, the PAP admitted that it did not have a proper plan to house foreign workers. It also showed a complete lack of understanding of the discontent of foreign workers here until the riot in Little India erupted in 2013. And even then, the police were ill-prepared to deal with the mayhem."With such a dismal record of handling 5.3 million people, how does the PAP propose to cope with 6.9 million?"A bigger population will, of course, allow the PAP government to collect more taxes and fees. But this comes at the expense of Singaporeans who have to live with the stresses and strains of an overcrowded city – the MRT breakdown yesterday being just one of the many problems the people have to contend with."
Photos: WP Facebook page; SDP Facebook page