SINGAPORE — Bukit Batok Member of Parliament Murali Pillai has apologised over problems with hose reels during a recent flat fire, and said that the town council was taking disciplinary action against two officers who directed the padlocking of the hose reel cabinets.

In a Facebook post on Friday (Nov 15), Mr Murali added that the Jurong-Clementi Town Council was also investigating a claim by a contractor that the hose reels were in fact supplying water at the time the fire broke out at Block 210A Bukit Batok Street 21 in the early hours of Nov 1.

Firefighters responding to the fire on the block’s 13th floor found the hose reel cabinets at the block padlocked, and had to break one to get access to a hose reel. But even then, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it had found that the hose reel had no water supply.

The SCDF then used water from their own emergency vehicles. They rescued three people affected by the fire, who were taken to hospital with burns and smoke inhalation.

In his post, Mr Murali said the maintenance contractor J.Keart Alliances Pte Ltd had provided a video of the hose reel in question that showed that it was working on the day of the fire.

“This led to Town Council meeting SCDF officers earlier this week to provide what J.Keart showed. After consulting SCDF, Town Council issued a statement accepting SCDF’s position on the matter. It is now investigating J.Keart’s assertions,” Mr Murali said.

Later on the day of the fire, SCDF notified Jurong-Clementi Town Council of the issue with the fire hose reels and performed an inspection with town council representatives.

It also issued the town council with Fire Hazard Abatement Notices, which serve as warnings to rectify the non-compliance. In this instance, it would mean ensuring that the hose reels are functioning and not locked, SCDF said in a statement to the media on Saturday.

In his Facebook post, Mr Murali said that he wanted to “set out the facts” relating to the matter as he was politically accountable.

He said that the two problems identified by the SCDF in their notices — the padlocked hose reel cabinets and the lack of water supply in the hose reel — arose from ground operations by J.Keart, the contractor responsible for maintaining the fire hoses, as well as individual town council officers.

On the issue of water supply in the hose reels, the Jurong-Clementi Town Council on Wednesday issued a statement saying that J.Keart had certified that all 64 hose reels in Block 210A were in working condition after conducting maintenance checks in October.

On the issue of the fire hose reel cabinets, Mr Murali said that the town council had identified two officers as being responsible for directing the padlocking of the fire hoses.

In a statement on Thursday, the town council had said that the fire hose cabinets at the block had been padlocked to prevent vandalism.

Calling this a “mistake” on the part of the town councillors, Mr Murali said that they had done so to prevent the misuse of fire hoses and that they had admitted to their mistakes.

“The town council management will pursue disciplinary action against them,” added Mr Murali.

INCIDENTS ‘SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED’

Mr Murali apologised to his residents for the incidents in his Facebook post.

“I am clear in my mind that as your elected representative, I am accountable to you for both issues. These incidents should not have happened and, for that, I must apologise.”

He added that he will work with the town council to review the case and ensure that the fire safety system is strengthened.

TODAY has sought comment from the SCDF on J.Keart’s insistence that the fire hoses were supplying water on the day of the fire.

TODAY has also sought comment from J.Keart over its response to the incident.