Singapore is all set to celebrate its National Day Parade (NDP) on August 9. The country is gearing up its security measures for the auspicious day, with more concrete blocks being installed to prevent vehicular attacks and a system deployed to detect and track drones, among others.
Apart from the threat that is posed by hostile vehicles and drones, the organizers are also taking all measures possible to counter the chemical attacks as well.
Captain Andrew Tan, mass casualty manager of the NDP's medical committee said during a media briefing that around 500 medical personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Medical Corps, Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Ministry of Health have been trained to handle these kinds of emergencies.
Owing to the recent terrorist attacks across the globe, concrete blocks have been deployed at several locations in Singapore, where the crowd will gather to witness the NDP fireworks. Add to that full bag checks and metal detectors have been implemented the National Education shows for Primary 5 students and the preview shows, and it will be so at the NDP itself.
More than 5,000 personnel from the police and the SAF will be present at locations to patrol around the parade venue.
Marina Bay Floating Platform has been announced as a "special event area" and no one is allowed fly any unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including drones, within the area without a valid permit, reported TODAYonline.
"This (harder stance on drones) is because we are looking at a worldwide trend where adversaries will use drones as a means of attack on any event or any crowd congregation area," said Superintendent Tay Wee Li, assistant director of the Singapore Police Force's major security events division.
Those who break the rules will be arrested and their drones will be seized by the authority. If convicted, they could be jailed for up to 12 months, fined up to $20,000, or both, while previously those, violating the rules were usually be let off with warnings.
A drone radar system will also be functional during the event, which will help the organizers and authorities to detect and track the unauthorized flying drones. This radar system has been offered to the parade organizers by communication systems provider ST Electronics as part of a trial, reported the publication. The Gamekeeper radar is capable of detecting and tracking even the smallest of commercial drones within a 5km radius. The system has already been installed near the Singapore Flyer.
