 In a press statement on 18 April 2018, SMRT announced that former Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Neo Kian Hong will replace Desmond Kuek as group CEO from 1 August.Kuek led SMRT's rail transformation effort to renew and improve the ageing North-South and East-West Lines, Singapore's oldest, longest and most heavily-used MRT lines .The multi-year, multi-project renewal effort spearheaded by Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) involves six major components and will stretch into the early 2020s.