NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE POST IN JALAN KAYU

Mr Heng Chiang Meng asked the Minister for Home Affairs when a neighbourhood police post or posts will be provided in Jalan Kayu Constituency.

Dr Lee Boon Yang (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, the two neighbourhood police posts in Jalan Kayu Constituency are scheduled for 1989. However, the Police will try to have them ready by 1988.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng (Jalan Kayu): Supplementary questions, Sir. (1) How many constituencies already have neighbourhood police posts? (2) Are there already any constituencies with more than one neighbourhood police post? (3) If so, how many? (4) Since the original schedule for building NPPs was drawn up, has the original order of establishment been changed? (5) On what basis was this original schedule drawn up?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the neighbourhood police post scheme was designed to achieve a target of 91 posts throughout all the constituencies in Singapore. I believe, as of now, more than 50 have been implemented.

The Member wants to know how many constituencies have more than one neighbourhood police post. As at present, there are two constituencies which have more than one neighbourhood police post. But the final plan envisages 12 constituencies to have more than one neighbourhood police post. Presently, the two constituencies which have more than one neighbourhoold police post are Thomson and Serangoon Garden Constituencies.

Sir, the Member's next question is whether the schedule for implementation of neighbourhood police posts has been changed. The original schedule which was drawn up in 1983 has over the years been reviewed to meet with the changes in development which have taken place in between. For instance, the emphasis on the development of certain new towns which were not formulated prior to 1983.

The Member wants to know the basis for this order of implementation. In formulating the neighbourhood police post scheme, the Police had to take into consideration several factors. This includes the rate and the locality of public housing developments. Priority has to be given to constituencies which have established major public housing estates. For constituencies which have new town development, the construction of NPPs will be incorporated into the new town as it is being built. This is because the early establishment of NPPs in a new town will help to foster a closer relationship between the Police and the residents. And it is also from Police experience that during the early days of a new town's development, it is vital to enhance the sense of security among the new residents.

The other factor which has to be considered is whether constituencies without intensive public housing estates should take precedence in the schedule of implementation. Generally, the Police felt that these constituencies without the high density public housing development should be accorded lower priority. This is because private residential estates, unlike the high-rise public housing estates, can be adequately covered by bicycle and divisional police car patrols.

Lastly but not least, the Police have also to consider the availability of trained manpower in order to staff the neighbourhood police posts. Each neighbourhood police post requires a minimum of about 20 trained officers. And these are not just officers who are trained in the normal police work but officers who have received extra training by way of better inter-personal relationships to be able to deal with the public who come to the NPPs. Given the manpower constraint within the Police Force, we can only manage to establish about 14-15 neighbourhood police posts per year and the implementation will therefore have to be phased out accordingly.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: Sir, given the manpower constraint, if certain new things come up, eg, during the Committee of Supply, will the Minister of State reconsider the order of the queue? Because we do understand that you cannot set up all the NPPs at once but I am just talking about the order of the queue.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, as I have said earlier on, the Police are always reviewing the schedule of implementation for the NPPs and will take into consideration any new factor which the Member for Jalan Kayu is able to bring up.