SINGAPORE: Singapore and the US have signed an agreement to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on nuclear and other radioactive materials, which can be used to build dirty bombs.
State-of-the-art equipment will be deployed at the Singapore Port in six months to detect hidden shipments of such materials.
Singapore will be the first in South East Asia to use the detection system in cooperation with the US.
A joint statement said the deal will further strengthen their work together in the war on terrorism.
"The agreement Commissioner Lock and I are signing today, on behalf of our respective governments to deploy sophisticated radiation detection equipment at the Port of Singapore sends a clear message to terrorists: There will be no safe havens in Singapore for the smuggling of nuclear and radioactive material." said Franklin Lavin, the United States ambassador to Singapore.
"The radiation detector, which is like a large gate, a portal designed such that a container truck carrying a container drives through it, the detector will be able to detect if there's any presence of radioactive or nuclear material contained within the cargo." said Mr Lock Wai Han, the commissioner for Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
The system will be tested at the Pasir Panjang Terminal, but will eventually screen all containers entering and leaving the port for ALL destinations.
"I suppose if there's no trafficking in the region, we may not get any hits at all but that's fine, just shows that this is really a safe port of call. But how it integrates with processes to make sure that it does not affect the trading community, I think that's really key," added Commissioner Lock.
6 countries, including the Netherlands and Greece, have already installed the radiation detectors, and the US is in discussions with 30 countries covering 50 ports worldwide.
Singapore is the first in the region, and the agreements with Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are expected to be completed in the next few months. - CNA