The government has established a new training base for police national serviceman designed to cut the amount of time required to enable them to guard key installations (Kins) from four years to two years, the Straits Times said.

"This new training ground signifies that a new breed of Kins officers are being trained to handle post 9-11 challenges in the security and protection of Singapore's installations," the paper quoted Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee as saying.

The daily said the new training base will enable 8000 troops to be deployed by 2007 to guard vital national installations, which also include telecommunications facilities.

It said the 11-hectare (27-acre) training ground has areas for high-powered weapons training, fighting in urban areas and military defence tactics.

The Singapore government frequently warns the tiny but economically powerful Southeast Asian city-state of 4.3 million people is a target for terrorist attacks.

It has recently made a series of high-profile announcements in regards to anti-terrorism measures in a bid to project an image of a secure Singapore.

The measures include the installation of surveillance cameras in schools, the training of taxi drivers to detect terrorists and the deployment of more armed officers to patrol commercial, entertainment and residential areas.

"We're making Singapore a difficult target, a hard target, so that people are aware that we're always watchful, always vigilant," Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said last week.

                                                      Home