We appreciate Mr Tan Chor Hoon's letter and suggestions (Improve checks on vendors providing outsourced services, Sept 21).

Jurong-Clementi Town Council has worked closely with its fire safety contractor to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate incident in 2019, and mitigate the risks of any other failures in managing the fire protection system in our estates.

The contractor responsible for maintaining the hose reels in 2019, a specialist fire safety contractor, was found to have been negligent in not ensuring a selector switch was in the right mode following a maintenance exercise conducted just two weeks earlier.

It was held contractually responsible for the failure, and its contract was terminated.

Following this incident, Jurong-Clementi Town Council enhanced its system of checks on specialist contractors to incorporate new preventive and corrective measures.

All our fire hose reel pump systems have been installed with a buzzer system that alerts technicians when the selector switch is placed in the wrong mode.

To prevent recurrence of vandalism, we have also replaced the locking mechanism of all fire hose reel cabinets.

The fire safety contractor, together with our property officers, conducts monthly site inspections to ensure compliance with Singapore Civil Defence Force guidelines.

On top of this, we have set up a dedicated fire safety committee to review safety measures regularly, recommend measures to ensure reliability of fire emergency equipment, implement fire safety training regimes for staff and engage independent experts for audits.

The town council will continue to do its utmost to ensure fire safety and preserve the interests of our residents.

Jeffrey Wong

General Manager

Jurong-Clementi Town Council