Country ReportSingapore 2001

CONTENTS
Ⅰ．AIM
Ⅱ．INTRODUCTION
Ⅲ．MAIN CONSIDERATIONS
Ⅳ．EMERGENCY AUTHORITIES
1. Legislation
1) Civil Defense Act 1986
2) Fire Safety Act 1993
3) Civil Defense Shelter Act 1997

Ⅴ．EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MEASURES
1. Plans
2. Drills and Exercises
3. Public Awareness. Education & Participation

Ⅵ．DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCIES
1. Main Agencies
2. Supporting agencies

Ⅶ．INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
1. International Relations Program
2. Overseas Rescue Assistance3. Training

Ⅷ．CONCLUSION
Ⅰ．AIM

This report provides an overview of the Preparedness program and activities undertaken by
Singapore to prevent and manage disasters.

Ⅱ．INTRODUCTION
The Republic of Singapore is a small Island City State with a land area of 645 square kilometers
and a multi-racial population of about 4 million people. More than 80 percent of its population lives
in high-rise apartment buildings in public housing estates. The republic also has numerous high-rise commercial buildings, some reaching a height of over 280 meters, mostly in its central
business district.
Geographically, Singapore is just outside the 'Paciﬁc Rim of Fire' and is thus spared from theravages and destruction caused by natural phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The republic nevertheless has from time to time, experienced some localized man-made disasters
and major accidents, which also had painful and tragic consequences.

Ⅲ．MAIN CONSIDERATIONSThe Emergency Preparedness Programs and Disaster Management activities undertaken bySingapore are based on the following main principles:a. Man-made disasters can be prevented, and their tragic consequences, minimized through a setof stringent and comprehensive government regulations on ﬁre and building safety, coupled withstrict enforcement.
b. Prepare and develop emergency and contingency plans to deal with disaster should they occur.
Such plans should be tested and ﬁne hone through regular exercises and drills.
c. Educate the community on the need for and importance of emergency preparedness. Wherepossible, involve the community in exercises, training and physical preparations.
d. Coordinate multi-agency eﬀort in emergency response and management of disasters. Coordinate
available expertise and resources swiftly to the disaster site to maximize the chances of survival ofthe injured and to minimize damage to infrastructure.
e. Restoration work and the rehabilitation of the injured is an integral part of the total disastermanagement program.

Ⅳ．EMERGENCY AUTHORITIESThe Ministry of Home Aﬀairs is the principal policy and directing authority responsible for civil
defense emergency preparedness and disaster management. Under its command are two
emergency agencies - the Singapore Civil Defense Force and the Singapore Police Force which areresponsible for planning, coordinating and implementing the various programs and activities.
Several other Ministries, Statutory Boards and government departments are also involved insupporting roles, including the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, Public Utilities Boardand Housing and Development Board.

1. Legislation
The main laws supporting Singapore's Emergency Preparedness Program and disastermanagement activities are:1) THE CIVIL DEFENSE ACT 1986
This Act provides the legal framework for, amongst other things, the declaration of a state ofemergency and the deployment of operationally ready national service rescuers to support theSCDF.
2) FIRE SAFETY ACT 1993
This Act provides the legal framework to impose ﬁre safety requirements on commercial andindustrial premises, as well as the involvement of the management and owners of such premises inemergency preparedness against ﬁres.
3) CIVIL DEFENSE SHELTER ACT 1997
This Act provides the legal framework for buildings to be provided with civil defense shelters for use
by persons needing to take refuge therein during a state of emergency.

Ⅴ．EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MEASURES
Singapore's Emergency Preparedness program for major disasters comprised the following mainelements:-

1. Plans
Disasters are managed within a multi-agency framework involving various supporting agencies
such as the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Community Development andSports, Building Control Authority etc. Contingency plans covering the roles of the various
government agencies have been adopted for a wide range of disasters, including the following:(1) Fires in high-rise commercial and residential buildings(2) Fires in petrochemical installations and oil reﬁneries(3) Release and spread of hazardous and toxic materials(4) Collapse of buildings and other major structures(5) Accidents Involving land, air, sea and rail transport

2. Drills and Exercises
To ensure that these contingency plans are comprehensive and eﬀective, drills and exercises are
conducted by the various emergency authorities. Such exercises and drills also involve the owners
and occupants of the building premises as well as the general public. Fire ﬁghting exercises
conducted by the Singapore Civil Defense Force include those held at commercial high-risebuildings every Monday. In addition, the Singapore Civil Defense Force conducts and participates injoint operational readiness exercises with other government agencies to test the contingency plansfor coping with major disasters.

3. Public Awareness, Education & Participation(1) An eﬀective emergency preparedness program should involve the population. Since its
inception in 1982, the Singapore Civil Defense Force has been continuously implementing
community relations programs for emergency preparedness. The public is regularly kept informedand reminded of the need and importance of emergency preparedness through news and press
advertisements, posters, leaﬂets etc. The underlying message to the public is "Readiness is youronly protection". Over the years, the Singapore Civil Defense Force has built up an extensive

community and grassroots network to involve the population in emergency preparedness activities
such as rescue, water rationing and blood collecting exercises.
(2) Since 1999, the Singapore Civil Defense Force has also been working closely with the Ministryof Home Aﬀairs, Singapore Police Force, grassroots organizations and residents to synergise eﬀorts
to involve the community in a wide range of security and safety-related activities through theCommunity Security and Safety Program (CSSP). This program is based on the concept of "selfhelp" whereby residents play active roles and work with government agencies to solve problems
speciﬁc to their own communities.

VI. DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCIESThe following is an overview of the disaster management measures instituted in Singapore:

1. Main Agencies(1) The Singapore Civil Defense Force and the Singapore Police Force are the main agencies under
the purview of the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs responsible for on-site Disaster Management. TheSingapore Civil Defense Force is responsible for the conduct of ﬁre ﬁghting and rescue operations atthe disaster site and the transportation of victims to hospitals for medical treatment. The Singapore
Police Force is responsible for the security, investigation and traﬃc management as well as
coordination matters.
(2) SCDF has a strength comprising 23,000 Operationally Ready National Servicemen, 3,500 fulltime National Servicemen, 56,000 volunteers and a core of about 1,800 regular oﬃcers and men.
The Singapore Civil Defense Force responds to all types of emergencies round-the-clock. Over thelast few years, the Singapore Civil Defense Forces responded to an average of 13,500 emergency
ﬁre and rescue, and 60,000 ambulance calls.
(3) Organized with a 3-tier structure, Singapore Civil Defense Force Headquarters command andcontrol four territorial Divisional Headquarters, which in turn manage the ﬁre stations and otherground units. The ﬁre stations will provide the ﬁrst response. Depending on the nature and extent
of the disaster, the ﬁre stations are supported by the Rescue Battalions, the Division Headquarters
and Singapore Civil Defense Force Headquarters. Fire stations at strategic locations in Singapore
are also staﬀed and equipped with Hazmat capabilities to mitigate incidents involving the harmful
release of chemicals in industrial premises and along transportation routes.
(4) The Singapore Civil Defense Force has an elite rescue team, the Disaster Assistance and Rescue
Team (DART), which carries out complex and diﬃcult rescue operations, including tunneling, Mass
Rapid Transport rescue and high-rise rescues. DART is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment,such as the robots, Search Cameras, Fiber-Optical scope, Thermal Imaging Camera, Trapped
Person Locator and rescue dogs.

2. Supporting agencies
In the management of disasters, the Singapore Civil Defense Force and the Singapore Police Forceare supported by other government agencies, viz, the following;(1) The Ministry of Health, which is responsible for medical treatment of the injured; and physicaland psychological rehabilitation of victims.

(2) The Ministry of Community Development, which is responsible for management of thehomeless in relief centers.
(3) The Ministry of Information and The Arts, which is responsible for media relations and publicinformation.
(4) The Ministry of Environment, which is responsible for disposal of the dead and cleaning up
operations (e.g. debris disposal).
(5) The Public Works Department, which provides advice on engineering and structural safety.
(6) The Public Utilities agencies, which are responsible for shutting down and diversion of power,
gas and water supplies to facilitate the ﬁre-ﬁghting and rescue operations, and for their restoration
after the disaster.

Ⅶ．INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIONOver the past years, Singapore was involved in the following areas of co-operation in disastermanagement:

1. International Relations Program
Singapore has an on-going exchange program with a number of countries from the Asia-Paciﬁc andEurope. The various emergency authorities in Singapore, especially the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs,
the Singapore Civil Defense Force and the Singapore Police Force meet their respective foreigncounterparts from time to time to exchange views and experiences on emergency preparedness
and disaster management.

2. Overseas Rescue Assistance
The Singapore Civil Defense Force has since assisted the Philippines in the Bagnio Earthquake
rescue operation in 1990 and Malaysia in rescue operation in the collapse of the Highland Towers inKuala Lumpur In 1993. More recently, the SCDF overseas rescue contingent assisted Taiwan in theTaiwan 921 Earthquake rescue operation in September 1999. The Singapore Civil Defense Force'sOverseas Rescue Contingent is listed with the United Nation's International Search and Rescue
Advisory Group (INSARAG) register as an international Search and Rescue Team. Since April 1999,
the Singapore Civil Defense Force registered two of its disaster management experts to be part of
the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team.

3. Training(1) The Singapore Civil Defense Force deeply values the sharing of ideas, expert knowledge andtechnology in disaster prevention and management with its overseas counterparts and has ongoingprograms with countries in the Asia-Paciﬁc, Europe and the USA. Singapore is continuously learningfrom other countries and adopting suitable ideas for use in its own local context, so as toconstantly upgrade its mode of operation to tackle both old and new challenges.
(2) The Singapore Civil Defense Force also oﬀers training courses, such as the Urban Search andRescue Course and Emergency Behavior Management Course, to its international partners. These
training are conducted with realism in the Civil Defense Academy, with its modern innovation like

training simulators and facilities. Overseas participants in CDA courses include personnel from theﬁre and rescue departments in Taiwan, Brunei Fire Services and the Special Malaysia Disaster
Assistance and Rescue Teams (SMARTS).

Ⅷ．CONCLUSION
Singapore values public safety and security. It believes in being prepared to face major disasters so
as to ensure minimum losses and disruptions. It garners all eﬀorts to promote and institutionalize
emergency preparedness among its people, while developing and exercising contingency plans fora wide range of foreseeable disasters to be executed by various emergency agencies in close
coordination. Where appropriate, it also shares its experience and rescue resources with nearby
countries in need of assistance.