Ex-LTA officers pleads immunity from personal liability in N
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By Rita Zahara, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : Closing submissions were made on Friday in the trial of former project director of the MRT Circle Line, Ng Seng Yoong.
Ng was the first of four men to face criminal charges in the wake of the Nicoll Highway accident in April 2004.
In a startling proposition by the defence, Ng is now fighting for immunity and protection from personal liability under Section 10 of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Act.
This means no suit or other legal proceedings can be brought against any member or employee of LTA, provided he acted in good faith.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Edwin San said this was never raised during the trial nor was there any evidence to this effect.
The prosecution added that Ng was acting as an independent person and not as an employee of LTA.
But Defence Counsel Andrea Maniam insisted Ng was an LTA employee as he was paid an allowance of $400 to work in his other capacity as the Qualified Person on site, responsible for monitoring the design work.
The defence also centred their arguments on Ng's capabilities - that he went above and beyond what the LTA system expected of him and had exercised 'due diligence and reasonable care'.
The trial continues on November 8.
If convicted, Ng can be jailed up to six months or a fine of $10,000. - CNA/de -
It is like a wild, wild west movie........
A case of a convicted shariff and the hangman. The hangman would not want to hang the shariff without the shariff first removing his badge but the shariff would not allow his badge to be removed and be hung .....
A case of LTA's over-calculation resulting in miss-calculation...... -
What's new? *yawn*
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A responsible Ministry or LTA would know before undertaking the MRT Circle line at Nicol Highway of the following:-
(1) Presence of Marine Clay and effect of Dewatering on surrounding road and structures.
(2) Minister would receive recommendations and proposals on the kind of measures to be taken to prevent surrounding roads and structures from collapses under extreme marine clay and dewatering conditions.
If minister and LTA did not include these measures to be tendered out and specified in advance of part of project requirements, then the minister is answerable and not employees or some PE or QP inserted mid-way to save the minister of his own skin.
It looks like in one failure after another the minister always gets away from responsibility and always fails to preempt or foresee problems at his level. By the time project is underway and tender already called and contracts entered into it is too late to ask various parties to be answerable as they will push from one party to another.
Our leaders are the world's best and are being paid the world's highest salaries. Citizens now expect them to be answerable for such fiascos from Hotel New World to today. They should not depend on courts or legal process alone to look after our safety. It will be ridiculous to continue to short-change the taxpayers and citizens in this manner by pushing everything to someone else. They must exercise responsibility of high office to prevent some more negligence with marine clay and dewatering. Go and look at Ubi and Paya Lebar for more cases of subsidence to see what I mean. Minister simply has to understand how to preempt and prevent problems and major collapses in a more proactive manner at the start not let the problems occur and then try to find out who are guilty by scapegoat method. If he is still insistent on pushing to contractors or employees, then he is not worth millions of salaries. -
Please, how can we trouble our beloved ministers? They are already very busy attending all the RC and PA community centers' dinners and thinking of more ways to make money (errm for singapore that is).
It looks like in one failure after another the minister always gets away from responsibility and always fails to preempt or foresee problems at his level. By the time project is underway and tender already called and contracts entered into it is too late to ask various parties to be answerable as they will push from one party to another.
Our leaders are the world's best and are being paid the world's highest salaries. Citizens now expect them to be answerable for such fiascos from Hotel New World to today. They should not depend on courts or legal process alone to look after our safety. It will be ridiculous to continue to short-change the taxpayers and citizens in this manner by pushing everything to someone else. They must exercise responsibility of high office to prevent some more negligence with marine clay and dewatering. Go and look at Ubi and Paya Lebar for more cases of subsidence to see what I mean. Minister simply has to understand how to preempt and prevent problems and major collapses in a more proactive manner at the start not let the problems occur and then try to find out who are guilty by scapegoat method. If he is still insistent on pushing to contractors or employees, then he is not worth millions of salaries.[/b]
You may argue that when such fiasco happened in the west, the CEO will take responsiblity and quit. But it is different in singapore. We have our own proud rules - our beloved leaders should be well protected. -
Another Singapore's First - Strangest human behaviour Incredible but true. May be MITA should consider submitting another into the Guineas Book of Record - Most forgivable Fiasco category.
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just 1 question...
who is the one overall in charge of the project???? LTA? Government? or civilian?
p.s did the LTA boss resign for that?? if in other country the boss auto resign already wont say not his problem one...
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PM Lee Hsien Loong in a recent interview with the press emphasised once again that Singapore will not follow the western-style democracy.
He cannot say what kind of demoracy he wants for Singapore in the usual autocratic manner as adopted by past leaders.
Can he support his non-western autocracy-based democracy with some basics to avoid such constant hypocrisy as seen in minister's, LTA failing to solve problems with something better. If there is something better, why not make them clear to citizens with accountable processes and commitments that they can understand and support instead of only justifying past unworkable policies to western pressmen. -
Originally posted by Cindyfeh:Please, how can we trouble our beloved ministers? They are already very busy attending all the RC and PA community centers' dinners and thinking of more ways to make money (errm for singapore that is).
You may argue that when such fiasco happened in the west, the CEO will take responsiblity and quit. But it is different in singapore. We have our own proud rules - our beloved leaders should be well protected.
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Ministers and perm secs should be qualified for the positions they are in charge in.We are a small state, it should not be an excuse.Originally posted by robertteh:A responsible Ministry or LTA would know before undertaking the MRT Circle line at Nicol Highway of the following:-
(1) Presence of Marine Clay and effect of Dewatering on surrounding road and structures.
(2) Minister would receive recommendations and proposals on the kind of measures to be taken to prevent surrounding roads and structures from collapses under extreme marine clay and dewatering conditions.
If minister and LTA did not include these measures to be tendered out and specified in advance of part of project requirements, then the minister is answerable and not employees or some PE or QP inserted mid-way to save the minister of his own skin.
It looks like in one failure after another the minister always gets away from responsibility and always fails to preempt or foresee problems at his level. By the time project is underway and tender already called and contracts entered into it is too late to ask various parties to be answerable as they will push from one party to another.
Our leaders are the world's best and are being paid the world's highest salaries. Citizens now expect them to be answerable for such fiascos from Hotel New World to today. They should not depend on courts or legal process alone to look after our safety. It will be ridiculous to continue to short-change the taxpayers and citizens in this manner by pushing everything to someone else. They must exercise responsibility of high office to prevent some more negligence with marine clay and dewatering. Go and look at Ubi and Paya Lebar for more cases of subsidence to see what I mean. Minister simply has to understand how to preempt and prevent problems and major collapses in a more proactive manner at the start not let the problems occur and then try to find out who are guilty by scapegoat method. If he is still insistent on pushing to contractors or employees, then he is not worth millions of salaries. -
yeah.~!yeah~! They seemed like very very very very very busy in calculating of figures, making money or sucking we the commoners' blood.Originally posted by Cindyfeh:Please, how can we trouble our beloved ministers? They are already very busy attending all the RC and PA community centers' dinners and thinking of more ways to make money (errm for singapore that is).
You may argue that when such fiasco happened in the west, the CEO will take responsiblity and quit. But it is different in singapore. We have our own proud rules - our beloved leaders should be well protected.
One more thing to take note hor....our mini-stars are looking very arrogant in these day~!
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LTA's immunity claim sounds like it came straight out of a LAW and ORDER episode.
The defence must be rolling dice for a double six. -
No, this sounds like Survivor.
Give that man the immunity idol.