林志蔚副教授（盛港集选区议员）向内政部长提问：

(a) 决定在特定住宅区内建造民防公共防空洞的考虑因素是什么？

(b) 在非成熟住宅区（如盛港和榜鹅）中缺少这类防空洞，是否因为组屋单位有内置防空洞？

(c)建屋局是否认为此类防空洞的安全性可与公共防空洞相当？

尚穆根（内政部长）先生：在战争时期，居民几乎没有时间寻求保护。相对而言，留在家中比在户外试图进入公共防空洞更安全。因此，自1998年以来，我们要求所有住宅开发项目的每个家庭单元都必须设有防空洞，或者在每层楼或建筑物楼梯内设有公共防空洞。

公共避难所，如地铁站、学校和社区中心的地下防空洞，目前主要供在室外进行基本活动的人员使用，如分发口粮和物资。

所有民防防空洞，无论是住宅还是公共防空洞，都是按照新加坡民防部队规定的技术规格设计的，可提供防爆炸和防碎片的保护。

我们认为住宅防空洞是最有效的保护方法，并将继续将其作为战争时期公众的主要避难手段。

 Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the considerations behind the decision to construct a civil defence public shelter within a given housing estate; (b) whether the scarcity of such shelters in non-mature estates, such as Sengkang and Punggol, are due to the in-built shelters in HDB units; and (c) whether HDB considers such shelters as comparable in safety to the public shelters.

Mr K Shanmugam: In times of war, residents have little time to seek protection. It is relatively safer to remain at home than being out in the open trying to reach a public shelter. Therefore, since 1998, we have required all residential developments to have either a shelter in every household unit, or a common shelter on each storey or within the staircase of a building.

 Public shelters, such as at underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, schools and community centres, are now mainly for those conducting essential activities outside, such as distributing food rations and supplies.

 All civil defence shelters, whether residential or public, are designed in accordance with the technical specifications set by the Singapore Civil Defence Force and provide protection against blast and fragmentation effects.

We have assessed residential shelters to be the most effective protection approach and will continue to adopt them as the primary means of shelter for the public during times of war.