to stop the recurring breakdowns and other serious lapses all these years, signalling his incompetence and lack of leadership. It said, rather than shifting the blame to everyone else, as the Minister for Transport, he must take responsibility for the ongoing fiasco and resign. Responding to mounting public pressure, Khaw delivered a 47-minute Ministerial Statement in Parliament on 7 November 2017. The parliamentary sitting was attended by SMRT's senior management, which included CEO Desmond Kuek and Chairman Seah Moon Ming. In his speech, Khaw revealed that anti-flooding pumps at Lavender and Kembangan stations were also found to be in non-serviceable condition, and maintenance records might have been falsified since 2016. Khaw disagreed with opposition chief Low Thia Khiang's charge that SMRT's main aim is to "make money for the government" at the expense of commuters, saying that "there are many other simpler ways to make money". Khaw declined any shortcomings or lapses in regulatory oversight by LTA or MOT staff and dismissed proposals to form a committee of inquiry. A poll conducted by market research company Blackbox, however, showed that 69% of Singaporeans felt a public inquiry into the incident should have been held. In the same poll, more than half of Singaporeans felt SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek should resign. Defending Kuek's performance, Khaw said, "he wasn’t parachuted in or being asked to go and fix this, he volunteered for this job. As the former Chief of Defence Force, I know his heart is in the right place". However, members of the public questioned Khaw's choice of the word "volunteer" given that Kuek is paid $1.87 million per annum, and whether there is a proper selection process at SMRT given that Kuek, a former Singapore Armed Forces Lieutenant-General and civil servant, had no experience running a company in engineering or rail operations before joining SMRT. Speaking at the inaugural Public Transport Workers Appreciation Day on 14 November 2017, Khaw further criticised SMRT's maintenance team responsible for the tunnel flooding, saying that they had "tarnished the reputation of Singapore and Singaporeans", and "brought disrepute" to other transport workers. The saga led to the sacking of 8 SMRT employees and legal action is expected to commence. Joo Koon rail accident An MRT train collided with another at Joo Koon station at approximately 0818 hours (SST) on 15 November 2017. It was initially reported that the accident caused 28 people to sustain injuries