Singapore offers to host regional crisis coordination centre

Channel NewsAsia 4 Apr 14;

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen has offered Changi Command and Control (C2) Centre to host a regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) coordination centre.

The offer, made at the ASEAN-US Defence Ministers' informal meeting on Friday, was supported by the ministers.

Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said in a statement that in discussing ASEAN's HADR efforts in the region in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, the ministers emphasised the need for militaries to work more closely together to strengthen the region's HADR capabilities.

The ministers noted that a regional HADR coordination centre, modelled after the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) in the Changi C2 Centre, would allow the militaries to respond speedily and effectively to a disaster situation.

Dr Ng said: "In the discussions, we realised that what was really needed was a crisis centre that was stood up all the time, which could be scaled up when the scale of the disaster required, because one of the problems with humanitarian or natural disasters is you don't know when it is going to hit next, and you don't know how large it is. And you don't know whether it will overwhelm the capacity or not.

“We actually have such a centre. And we have set it up in 2007, 2008, and we called it Information Fusion Centre in Changi. It was set up primarily then for maritime security."

During the meeting on Friday, the ASEAN defence ministers also welcomed the US' continued engagement in the region and its active participation in the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).

The ministers noted the important role the ADMM-Plus plays in strengthening practical cooperation amongst the militaries and supported the conduct of an ADMM-Plus joint counter-terrorism and maritime security exercise to be held in conjunction with the 3rd ADMM-Plus in Malaysia in 2015.

The ministers also discussed international security issues, including developments in Ukraine, and the need to respect international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Dr Ng is in Honolulu, Hawaii to attend the ASEAN-US Defence Ministers' informal meeting from 2 to 4 April 2014 (Singapore time) at the invitation of US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel.

As part of the programme, the ASEAN defence ministers visited the Inouye Regional Centre for a roundtable discussion on HADR.

They were also hosted to a luncheon by Commander Pacific Command Admiral Samuel Locklear.

- CNA/xq/ms


Singapore offers Changi facility as ASEAN disaster response centre
Today Online 5 Apr 14;

HONOLULU — The Republic has offered its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) partners the use of its command and control centre in Changi to help coordinate responses to natural disasters, given the number of catastrophic events in the region over the past decade or so.

The offer, which was made yesterday at an informal ASEAN-United States Defence Ministers’ meeting, received support from the various countries, Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said in a statement.

MINDEF also said the ministers noted that a regional humanitarian assistance and disaster relief coordination centre, modelled after the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) in the Changi facility, would allow the militaries to respond speedily and effectively to a disaster.

The three-day meeting ended yesterday. On the first day, US officials had offered to help ASEAN countries prepare for the devastating effects of climate change, urging stronger cooperation among armies and emergency agencies.

In a media interview, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said: “We were obviously struck within the last decade (by) how many natural disasters there were ... the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, Cyclone Nargis in 2008, Sichuan earthquake, the tsunami in Japan ... and of course Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.”

Singapore responded to each of these disasters by providing assistance or relief efforts. Based on its experience, it has recognised that in the first 24 or 48 hours after a disaster, “it is very difficult for the affected country to be able to set up a (command and control centre) for the very reasons that they are the ones hit”, Dr Ng said.

He added that during the dicussions, the ministers realised what is really needed is a crisis centre that is operational and can be scaled up when necessary.

“One of the problems with humanitarian or natural disasters is that you don’t know when it is going to hit next, and you don’t know how large it is and you don’t know whether it will overwhelm the capacity or not, or all of the above,” said Dr Ng.

The IFC, which was inaugurated in 2009, was primarily set up to share information on maritime security, keeping an eye on piracy and the shipping of weapons.

It has a network of 13 military navies and 51 civilian shipping companies globally. The centre also has essential infrastructure to allow an affected country to plug in all the information that various agencies would bring to bear when such a crisis occurs and make a coherent picture that everyone can see, said Dr Ng.

Last month, the centre was deployed to help in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with the Singapore Armed Forces alerting the network to report any unusual sightings in the designated search areas for the aircraft.

Given the support of ASEAN member states on offer, the Republic will flesh out the proposal. “We’ll set it up and when it’s ready, we’ll let others know,” said Dr Ng.

WITH AGENCIES