THE Singapore Flyerhad been certified safe by government agencies and a panel of foreign experts before it was allowed to start operating last February, said the Home Affairs Ministry.
Details of the initial approvals for the giant observation wheel, which came to a halt on Dec 23 and trapped 173 passengers in mid-air for up to six hours, were given yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is also the Home Affairs Minister.
He said in a written reply to Parliament that the operator had received a fire safety certificate from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) before it opened its gates to the public.
It also had a temporary occupation permit from the Building and Construction Authority. The police gave it a public entertainment licence after its safety and evacuation measures were certified by a third-party assessment body made up of foreign technical experts.
Mr Wong was replying to Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) and Madam Cynthia Phua (Aljunied GRC). They had asked about the steps being taken for future safety on the Flyer, among other issues.
The minister noted that the assessment panel experts were from the German technical services company TUV SUD, recommended by Spring Singapore 'as there is no such expertise in Singapore'. They certified the wheel according to a 'widely-used' European standard.
It covers the workmanship of the essential steel and machine components, and the operational safety performance, such as the adequacy of the cabin door's locking device, normal and emergency operations, and braking mechanism.
Mr Wong also gave a blow-by-blow account of the Dec 23 incident.
The electrical fire that damaged the main controls and back-up equipment broke out at 4.50pm. The management then brought in engineers and alerted its rescue team.
They also informed the police about the halt to the giant wheel at 5.08pm.
The engineers failed to start the wheel and, at 7.25pm, the police and SCDF were called in to help. The police arrived at 7.44pm and the SCDF, 10 minutes later.
By then, the management had begun freeing the passengers. After more passengers were rescued, the engineers managed to restart three of the wheel's six motor units.
The police will give the Flyer the go-ahead to reopen only after receiving a new certification report by the assessment body.
