CONSTRUCTION BRIGADE PROGRAMME (Success)

Mr Chew Heng Ching asked the Minister for Home Affairs if he will report on how successful the Construction Brigade Programme has been in achieving its objectives.

Dr Lee Boon Yang (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, the Construction Brigade Scheme was introduced in 1981 with the objective of building up a pool of national servicemen in the Singapore Civil Defence Force capable of carrying out repairs and reconstruction work in an emergency. Under this scheme, a total of 6,500 national servicemen have received training in various construction skills. 2,700 of them are now in reserve.

With the quarterly intake of 300 national servicemen into this scheme, there will be a growing pool of national servicemen and reservists with construction skills. They will enable the Singapore Civil Defence Force to carry out repair and reconstruction work in an emergency. This was proved in the Hotel New World disaster.

Sir, since this scheme provides construction training for the national servicemen, it has also contributed towards our national effort to build up a core of skilled local construction workers. Of the present 2,700 construction brigade reservists, 700 of them are employed in the construction industry.