Balam Road residents get their footpath back, with new eco-friendly features

Green again
Nazry Bahrawi, Today Online 8 Apr 08;

THEIR scenic footpath along Pelton Canal was removed because of the construction of the Circle Line, but residents at Balam Road can now look forward to something more — Singapore's first eco-garden.

Construction on this pilot project will begin later this year, Dr Fatimah Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC, said yesterday.

"It will have mechanisms that trap rainwater which will later be redirected to nourish plants in that area during hot periods," Dr Fatimah told reporters, adding that the scenic path would be reinstated, along with a new cycling track.

Another feature: "Resilient" plants that will trap debris during rain, thereby releasing dirt-free water into the canal, said a spokesperson from the Marine Parade Town Council.

The Pelton Canal reconstruction is a multi-agency effort involving not just the Marine Parade Town Council, but also the Housing Development Board, the Public Utilities Board, the National Parks Board, and the Geylang Serai grassroots division.

The idea for an eco-garden was based on feedback that grassroots leaders had gathered from residents during MP meet-the-people sessions, house-to-house visits and community events.

According to Ms Jessie Foo, Balam Road's Residents Committee chairman in charge of gathering feedback, more than 80 per cent of the residents she approached in January told her they wanted a cleaner canal.

The transformation of Geylang Serai is not just physical, but also people-centric.

According to Dr Fatimah, there are plans to launch a Local Elderly Network by next year with programmes such as massage and music therapies. The elderly forms about a fifth of the nearly 39,000 residents in Geylang Serai, said Dr Fatimah.

Other unique community outreach programmes in the constituency include the Grassroots Resource Network, which connects grassroots leaders to their retired predecessors and other professionals, as well as the Psychology Outreach Programme, which helps mentally-ill residents.