S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 11 Mar 13;
SINGAPORE: The Singapore government said it is committed to retain about a tenth of land for nature reserves and parks.
Acting Manpower Minister and Senior Minister of State for National Development, Tan Chuan-Jin, said this is significant for a highly urbanised city-state.
Speaking in Parliament during the committee of supply debate for the National Development Ministry on Monday, he said Singapore has protected four nature reserves, representing the key native ecosystems that are found in Singapore.
Their biodiversity is among the richest in the region.
Singapore has also planned green recreational areas where Singaporeans live.
At least 85 per cent of homes will be within a 400-metre walking distance to a park and Mr Tan said the government will do more.
He said this year, Singaporeans can look forward to the completion of new parks like Holland Village Park, Woodlands Town Park East and Choa Chu Kang Park extension, adding to the 350 parks today.
Some of the older parks like Sembawang and Changi Beach Park have been given a fresh new look.
These parks will be complemented by more park connectors, vertical greenery, rooftop gardens and the transformation of waterways into recreational areas.
Mr Tan explained that as Singapore ramps up infrastructure, some Singaporeans are naturally concerned that these developments will have an impact on the natural environment, the collective socio-cultural heritage, and with it, personal memories and identity.
Mr Tan said he understands and shares these concerns and so the country must be careful and deliberate, and take a balanced approach to development.
He said: "As a government, we need to balance the different views and needs. Our responsibility, above all, is to ensure that every Singaporean, today and tomorrow, have good homes, good jobs and a good quality of life. Our heritage and environment are important parts of this equation. But they are not an end by themselves. Within 714 square kilometres of land, we have to decide where to live, work and play. There are also defence and security needs, and the need to be self-sufficient in water. In planning development, we must put our people and their needs first."
Like the greening efforts, the government's approach to conserving the built heritage has and will continue to develop over time, said Mr Tan.
Since the 1980s, the URA has conserved over 7,000 buildings in more than 100 areas, including the historic districts of Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India.
Mr Tan added that URA will conserve more significant older buildings when there is opportunity to do so, and weigh this with the other needs of the population.
- CNA/xq
One-tenth of Singapore will be green
Residents can expect new parks and green spaces and facelifts for existing parks
Sumita Sreedharan Today Online 12 Mar 13;
SINGAPORE — The Government has pledged to commit a tenth of Singapore’s land to nature reserves and parks, with new parks and green spaces set for completion this year and in the years to come, and existing parks to get a facelift.
Speaking during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday, Senior Minister of State for MND, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, said the pledge is “significant for a highly urbanised city-state”, but stressed that a balance has to be struck between conservation and development.
“As a Government, we need to make decisions that reflect the collective interest of Singaporeans, not specific interest groups. However, we can and have been working closely with interest groups to tap on their expertise and knowledge,” he said.
This year will see the completion of new parks, including Holland Village Park, Woodlands Town Park East and the Choa Chu Kang Park extension.
Older parks like Sembawang and Changi Beach Park will be given a fresh new look, while the authorities are planning to create a 60-km Nature Way that will include the Tampines, Yishun-Mandai and Admiralty areas by 2015.
Mr Tan noted that the issue of conservation and development is “highly subjective and contextual”. “One may strongly believe that a particular green area or an old building should be conserved. Someone else may not share the same attachment and ask ‘what is the big deal?’” he said.
“Yet others will think that we can develop and conserve at the same time — a win-win arrangement which we have achieved in many cases, and which we should always strive for, but is not always possible.”
Addressing concerns by Nominated Member of Parliament (MP) Faizah Jamal and Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong on the Government’s processes on assessing the environmental impact of development projects, Mr Tan said it was not possible to conduct Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) on all developments.
“EIAs are also resource and time intensive. As such, we should apply them selectively to projects that may most adversely impact our protected natural spaces as well as our coastal and maritime environments,” he explained, adding that the EIAs, when done, are gazetted and available for public viewing.
Mr Tan also touched on the issue of celebrating heritage in the heartlands and incorporating an area’s heritage into its development.
For example, the Housing and Development Board will be studying the feasibility of retaining some of the mature trees in the Bidadari area and incorporating the existing memorial garden into the area to “retain the spirit of the space”.
He also said that plans for the Rail Corridor will be announced soon, and assured that the Government is committed to retaining a continuous green corridor as a “key element” in its planning, design and development.
Heritage areas: Singapore must strike balance
Grace Chua Straits Times 12 Mar 13;
SINGAPORE must strike a delicate balance between conservation and development, putting people first - even if not everyone agrees on where that balance should lie, said Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin in Parliament yesterday.
He was responding to MPs' concerns about conflicting uses of heritage areas like Kampong Glam, and requests to carry out environmental impact assessments (EIAs).
Nominated Member of Parliament Faizah Jamal brought up the example of Kampong Glam, a heritage area once settled by Bugis, Javanese, Arabs and other ethnic groups.
Now there is more nightlife, she said, but alcohol is drunk at bars within sight of the Sultan Mosque, causing tension in the Muslim community there.
She also asked if preliminary impact assessments were done for plans such as large-scale reclamation or the 50km cross-island MRT line through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, while Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong asked for EIAs to save wooded areas that help keep Singapore's carbon footprint in check.
Mr Tan said the balance between conservation and development was subjective and highly contextual.
"For example, one may strongly believe that this patch of greenery is very important. But somebody else might say, does it really matter? Why are we spending so much time, so much resources, dragging our feet on the issue?"
The Government strives to achieve win-win situations, he said, by seeking out and balancing views and engaging stakeholders.
Responding to Ms Faizah's and Mr Yee's questions, he said major projects already undergo EIAs, and that firm decisions on reclamation are taken only after EIAs are conducted.
These EIAs are gazetted and available for public viewing, he added. But they are time- and resource-intensive and should not be done for every single development.
Meanwhile, he said, Singapore keeps a tenth of its land for nature reserves and parks.
New parks at Holland Village and Woodlands will be completed this year, adding to Singapore's 350 parks, while a Kheam Hock Road corridor of trees and plants which allows butterflies and birds to move between green areas has also been launched.
As for heritage areas, Mr Tan said the community should discuss and shape their character.
For instance, the business community at Kampong Glam closed Haji Lane to cars on a Sunday afternoon, and there will be more such car-free pilot projects there and in Chinatown.
