By Ewen Boey | Yahoo! Newsroom – 8 hours ago
Beleaguered SMRT chief executive Saw Phaik Hwa has confirmed that
she will not be resigning for now after three train line breakdowns
last week.
The 57-year-old said she was taking responsibility for the
incidents but emphasised that now isn’t the right
time for her to leave her post.
“As CEO of SMRT, I am naturally responsible (for the
breakdowns). Being responsible does not mean walking away from
these faults; it means doing all I can to get the problem fixed,"
said Saw in a statement responding to calls for her to step down as
CEO.
"No good leader will leave the field when the battle
is on. I am staying put now to do my work, and put everything
right," she pointed out.
On Saturday, about 80 people turned up
for a gathering organised by The Online
Citizen (TOC) at Speakers’ Corner to call
for Saw to resign immediately.
Former Workers’ Party treasurer Eric Tan,
who spoke at the rally, said, “This (the train disruptions) is a
failure in management, and a sign of complacency. The CEO should
resign and take responsibility for what has
happened.”
The five-hour train breakdown along the North-South MRT line
on Thursday is said to be the worst
in SMRT’s
24-year history, with Saw conceding that a lot of things went
wrong.
“Admittedly, there were several problems that
surfaced during the disruptions. These include our detraining
procedures, announcements to the public, and bus shuttling
arrangements. We could have done better in these areas, and
minimise the inconveniences to, and frustrations of, the
commuters,” she said.
Saw also apologised to commuters for causing
frustration and inconvenience, and added that she emphathised and
understood how they felt.
According to statistics quoted by The Straits Times,
Saw joined SMRT from a 19-year stint DFS Venture
Singapore, where she was regional president.
The paper added that SMRT’s net profit rose from S$56.8
million in 2002, when she joined, to S$161.1 million this
year.
