'Progress made, but more can be done'

SINGAPORE - One of the things Tampines GRC Member of Parliament Baey Yam Keng pushed for in Parliament last year was for heavy vehicles to stay away from roads with heavy pedestrian traffic all across the island.

A year on, he feels that progress has been made.

Said Mr Baey: "We have successfully worked with contractors of several major construction projects to reroute their heavy vehicles, away from high pedestrian traffic areas, over the course of the year."

But he feels that more can be done.

The Land Transport Authority has started to implement more checks on the speeds of heavy vehicle drivers, which Mr Baey believes serves only as a minor deterrent, although he is adopting a wait-and-see approach to test its effectiveness.

He believes more should be done to educate these drivers on the possible harm they could cause and the dangers of speeding.

REMAINS OPTIMISTIC

His suggestion of implementing a ban of the heavy vehicles in areas of heavy pedestrian traffic all over the country was deemed unfeasible, but Mr Baey remains optimistic about improving the overall situation.

He said: "I'm still hopeful for the authorities to see what we've achieved in Tampines and spread it to the rest of the island."

Meanwhile, Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah spoke of the benefit of placing traffic wardens at construction sites in February last year.

"The wardens can at least help to direct pedestrians where to walk and help to watch out for the drivers, too," she said.

She told The New Paper yesterday that such measures have been implemented and complaints have dropped.

Added Ms Lee: "However, it must not just be for show and I hope that they (the wardens) don't take their jobs for granted."

Another suggestion put forward was to increase the use of roadpolicing technology, and it was in this area that Ms Lee believes more needs to be done.

"We need to install newer and better cameras, and we need to do it faster," she said.

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