AUTOMATIC RESCUE DEVICE IN HDB LIFTS (Effectiveness of)

Mr Liew Kok Pun asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the number and percentage of lifts in Housing and Development Board apartment blocks that were brought to the nearest floor and had their doors opened by the Automatic Rescue Device thereby reducing the number of people trapped in HDB lifts during the recent island-wide power failure; and (b) whether his Ministry is satisfied with the effectiveness of the Automatic Rescue Device installed in all HDB lifts.

The Minister of State for National Development (Mr Lee Yock Suan) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, the HDB maintains 5,559 lifts. All lifts have been fitted with the Automatic Rescue Device (ARD), except for 159 lifts scheduled for replacement in the next two years.

During the power failure on 5th February 1983, 5,320 lifts (or 98.5%) out of the 5,400 lifts fitted with the ARD were brought to the nearest floor where their doors opened automatically. The remaining 80 lifts were not activated by the ARD. This was due to:-

(1) Defective ARDs - 28 lifts (or 0.5% of all lifts fitted with ARDs) had defective ARDs.

(2) Tampering of lifts by trapped passengers - 52 lifts (or 1%) had ARDs in good working order but these ARDs ceased to operate automatically for the safety of the lift passengers when attempts were made by the passengers to force the lift door open.

My Ministry is satisfied with the performance of the ARD so far. The very low rate of defective ARDs clearly demonstrates the very high standards of lift maintenance and reliability of the ARDs. Nevertheless, the HDB will continue to monitor the performance of the ARDs to further improve their reliability. Trapped passengers should not tamper with lifts during power failures or lift breakdowns as this will only cause the ARDs to cease working, thus delaying rescue.

Mr Ng Kah Ting: Mr Speaker, Sir, can I ask the Minister of State what steps are being taken to maintain zero defect of the ARD?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: This is really a technical problem. In fact, I think we may have to ask the manufacturers how they are going to improve on the performance of their products. Nothing is perfect. But where technical improvements can be made or suggested to the manufacturers, I am sure my Ministry will be happy to do so. Also, the ARDs come from different suppliers. Some are more reliable than others. We will attempt to use the more reliable ones.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok (Delta): Sir, would the Minister of State tell the House which figure is correct: the figure he just gave, or the figure of 5,518 which his Minister gave not long ago in this House?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not quite sure what figure he is referring to.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok: The figure on the number of lifts.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: The figure I mentioned is the latest figure - that the HDB maintains 5,559 lifts. We do knock down flats and so on. So there may be variations.