JURONG TOWN (Steps to improve telephone services)

Mr Ho Kah Leong asked the Minister for Communications whether he is aware that the telephone services in Jurong Town are inadequate to cope with the demands in the mornings, and what steps the Singapore Telephone Board proposes to take to improve telephone services in the Town.

The Minister for Communications (Mr Yong Nyuk Lin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore Telephone Board is aware that during certain peak hours in the morning, there is congestion in the telephone traffic between the Jurong Exchange and the City. This normally occurs between the hours of 10.00 and 11.00 in the morning.

This congestion is due to the lack of sufficient junction cable circuits to the Jurong Exchange. An additional junction cable is now being laid. This project was scheduled for completion early this year, but due to the delay in the delivery of certain ancillary equipment, such as loading coils, it will now be completed by the end of June this year. The delay unfortunately has been caused by strikes, not in Singapore but in the United Kingdom firm which supplies the equipment.

In the meantime, however, certain relief measures have been taken and it is estimated that about 40 per cent of the congested traffic load during peak hours has been met.