Bird flu spreads to urban Bangladesh, officials say

Reuters 6 Feb 08;

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to the Bangladesh capital Dhaka and to the port city Chittagong despite efforts by authorities to contain it, livestock officials said on Wednesday.

Dozens of dead crows found over the past two days in Dhaka have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. City authorities have ordered a ban on the sale of undressed chicken in Dhaka markets, the officials said.

In Chittagong, officials confirmed the spread of bird flu in several farms and also in crows that tested positive for the strain.

The virus has spread to 38 out of Bangladesh's 64 districts, and forced the culling of nearly 500,000 birds across the country.

Bird flu was first detected in Bangladesh at a poultry farm

near the capital last March, but so far has not infected humans in the densely populated country.

Lack of awareness about the virus is still widespread in the country, officials and media reports said.

On Wednesday, a Dhaka newspaper printed a photograph of a man collecting dead crows at the city's main Ramna Park with no mask and using his bare hands.

Touching or eating sick poultry can lead to infection by the H5N1 virus that has killed more than 220 people globally since late 2003.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Writing by Anis Ahmed; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Kashmir Pashmina goats face death in icy Himalayas

Reuters 6 Feb 08;

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Thousands of goats that provide fine wool for Kashmir's famous Pashmina shawls are facing death because of heavy snow in India's mountainous Ladakh region, officials said on Wednesday.

Nearly 100,000 Pashmina goats have been affected by a shortage of food because winter pastures near the Chinese border have been covered after unexpected heavy snowfall.

"Over 90,000 goats are facing shortage of food and many of them will die if fodder could not be provided immediately," said Tsering Dorjay, a government official in Ladakh.

Pashmina goats, which grow a thick warm fleece, survive on grass in Ladakh where temperatures plunge to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 29 degrees Fahrenheit).

Local newspapers reported stocks of winter fodder provided by the government had already been exhausted.

"We have requested the army to airdrop fodder into areas which are cut off due to unexpected heavy snowfall," Dorjay said.

After a ban on shahtoosh, the world's finest wool derived from the hair of an endangered Tibetan antelope, shawls made from Pashmina wool are considered some of the world's finest and they are exported worldwide.

(Reporting by Sheikh Mushtaq; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)

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Singapore: One more chikungunya case reported

Channel NewsAsia 6 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE : The number of chikungunya cases in Singapore has gone up by one more to 13.

According to the National Environment Agency and the Health Ministry, the latest probable case is a female Singaporean with no recent travel history.

She lives at Mackenzie Road and was admitted to hospital for suspected dengue fever on January 16.

She was later found to have chikungunya fever.

So far 2,626 people have been screened for the disease.

More than 4,800 inspections have been been conducted.

Officers have detected and destroyed 77 breeding sites. - CNA/ms

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Culture in peril as satellite TV comes to Borneo's Penan

M. Jegathesan Yahoo News 6 Feb 08;

As the roar of heavy chainsaws echoes in the distance, 54-year-old Ajang Kiew, once a nomadic Penan tribesman, wages a losing battle to save his culture in Borneo's rainforests.

The environmental damage wrought by the timber companies that are cutting swathes through Penan territory is not the only challenge faced by his people who now mostly live in villages.

As the loggers build roads through the once-impenetrable jungle to enable them to extract the timber, they also open up access to the modern world -- including television, junk food and new ideas.

At the timber camps and in Penan settlements, satellite televisions are now commonplace, powered by electricity supplied through diesel generators or mini hydro-electric pumps.

And Ajang says that as the forest shield is cleared, the young Penans no longer have an appetite for the natural environment or their ancient cultural traditions and ways of life.

They prefer pop music to the sounds of wild animals and insects, and crave for McDonalds and Coke rather than the pulp of a sago palm, the staple diet of the Penan which is eaten with meat from wild boar or barking deer.

"Yes I want a school, a clinic, but we need the jungle to preserve our culture," Ajang says in the Long San region about 200 kilometres (124 miles) southeast of Miri, an oil-rich coastal town in Malaysia's Sarawak state.

"In my village in Long Sayan, logging has destroyed the forest, including my ancestral graves," continues Ajang, chairman of the Penan Association in Sarawak, on Malaysia's half of Borneo island which it shares with Indonesia.

"If the habitats and the jungle products disappear, our culture will also disappear."

But 21-year-old Roland Allen, a Penan undergraduate student who attends university in Sarawak, says he has no love for the forest or his culture.

"I like to live in the town. I want to enjoy a modern lifestyle," he tells AFP during a visit to his ancestral home of Long Main village, half an hour's helicopter flight from Long San.

"We need to sacrifice the forest to move on. Education is a powerful weapon. We need roads. We need schools. We need medical clinics," he insisted.

Just behind Allen's house is a mini-hydroelectric pump sponsored by timber giant Samling which generates electricity and powers a huge satellite dish.

Some 20 children from Long Main attend boarding school, trekking four hours through the jungle to reach the nearest timber road near the town of Long Benalih.

Samling's plans to build a new road to Long Main have been halted by a blockade mounted by Penans aimed at protecting their forest.

The firm, which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, flew a group of international journalists to the area to hear both sides of the story.

Allen said that without the road, life is difficult for the 150 residents of Long Main, especially during the wet season when trekking through the forest or by river becomes even more difficult.

Another young man there, 22-year-old Paul John who came back to the village after becoming unemployed, felt the same way.

"I help my parents hunt for wild boar. I am happy here. But we have to change. We need jobs. Life in the jungle is difficult. The Penans need to develop," he said.

"Yes, I enjoy pop music and whenever I want fun, I go into town for a drink and to smoke." Drinking alcohol and smoking is banned in the village.

Ajang is greatly troubled by the new generation's lack of interest in protecting the forest.

In the past he has himself organised blockades to prevent timber companies from carrying out logging and has been jailed three times for his campaign.

As he leads a group of journalists struggling along a wet and slippery jungle trail, Ajang's hunting skills are on display as his eyes scan the wilderness and his sharp ears detect any animal sound.

"Look, that is a young petai plant," he says with a smile as he points out a popular long bean-like vegetable that is eaten raw. "Over there, that is a sago plant. This forest here is alive."

Just then a barking deer hops out of the forest into a clearing and then quickly disappears into the thick undergrowth which has grown back after timber giant Samling logged the area.

As we climb over fallen logs, carefully avoiding the blood-sucking leeches, Ajang kneels down to the forest floor to identify the "iput" leave that is used to heal body aches.

He laments however that the "ipo" tree species, which produces latex used to make traditional poison darts for blowpipes, has become scarce due to logging.

Samling insists that they conduct selective logging, and only trees with commercial revenue are felled while other plants like rattan and sago are left untouched.

It also uses the logged area to promote eco-tourism -- sponsoring locals to be trained as guides, and helping bring in foreign tourists to visit waterfalls and villages, and to witness traditional skills and culture.

The plight of the Penan was made famous in the 1990s by environmental activist Bruno Manser, who waged a crusade to protect their way of life and fend off the loggers.

He vanished in 2000 -- many suspect foul play.

Raymond Abin, of the Borneo Research Institute in Miri, says Penan culture is being devastated.

"As they are exposed to outside influence, social problems like alcohol drinking is becoming a concern," he says.

Raymond says the divorce rate is also rising, especially among Penan women who marry outsiders who work for the logging companies.

"When the timber companies complete their logging in one area, the workers then leave behind their Penan family," he says.

Raymond says there are at least 15,000 Penans in Sarawak, including about 300 who still live a nomadic existence in the jungle.

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Best of our wild blogs: 6 Feb 08

Another dolphin sighting!
at Pulau Semakau on the ashira blog

Massive reclamation off Labrador: photos!
by joseph lai on the flying fish friends blog

Flamebacks duo
on the bird ecology blog

How Will the U.S. Produce 36 Billion Gallons of Biofuel by 2022? from the Worldwatch Institute by Raya Widenoja

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Singapore hawkers at wet markets say business has dropped by 20%

Channel NewsAsia 5 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE: Some hawkers at wet markets are complaining that business has dropped by some 20 percent as customers are staying away due to rising food prices.

In the past years, many Singaporeans would have completed their shopping at the wet market to prepare for the Lunar New Year reunion dinner the following night.

Stallholders at the Chinatown wet market said shoppers are more cautious this year. Fewer are buying seafood like prawns and pomfrets even though the prices have not changed much from last year.

There is also ample supply of live poultry from Malaysia, which has kept prices affordable. The price of pork, though, has been going up.

Some stallholders said they are absorbing the costs so that they can sell more.

Fruits and vegetables have seen the biggest price fluctuations. In some cases, prices have shot up by as much as 50 percent.

Citrus fruit tangor cost S$8 per kilogramme on Monday, but overnight, the price rose to S$12.

Stallholders said rainy weather in Malaysia has affected the harvest of most vegetables, and some now cost 30 percent more.- CNA/so

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Chikungunya: 340 Little India shopowners told to remove roof gutters

Lee Hui Chieh, Straits Times 6 Feb 08;

180 have already complied; eight fined for non-compliance; rest ask for more time

THE battle against the mosquito-borne disease chikungunya has moved from the streets to the roofs.

Over the last 10 days, 340 shophouse owners in Little India - the centre of an outbreak of the dengue-like disease - have been told to remove the damaged or clogged gutters on their roofs.

The gutters can collect rain water and become a breeding ground for the Aedes mosquito, which transmits chikungunya and dengue.

So far, 180 shopowners have dismantled their gutters, while eight others were fined $2,000 each for refusing to comply, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The rest have asked for more time, citing difficulties in finding workers during the Chinese New Year season, NEA chairman Simon Tay said yesterday.

During a visit to Little India, Associate Professor Tay said most of the shopkeepers were cooperative, as they realise 'the reputation of Little India is at stake', and the outbreak is affecting their businesses.

'We need that kind of ownership. We cannot inspect every single house, we really have to work with them to make sure that their housekeeping is better,' he added.

Shopowners who ignore clean-up orders can be fined up to $20,000, or jailed for up to three months.

Singapore is in the midst of its first outbreak of chikungunya, a viral disease that causes symptoms similar to dengue, such as fever and joint pains.

Since the first patient was reported on Jan 14, 11 others who lived or worked in Little India have been found infected.

All 13 previous appearances of the disease in Singapore were in people who had been infected overseas, and the virus had not spread to others.

Since Jan 14, NEA has inspected more than 4,700 properties in Little India, and destroyed 75 mosquito breeding sites.

It has also enlisted the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association to distribute its posters and booklets with tips on preventing mosquito breeding in seven languages, including Tamil, Hindi and Bengali.

The association has also been advising shopkeepers to be more vigilant against mosquito breeding.

One of them, Mr K. Nadarajan, 52, who owns four vegetarian restaurants in Little India, has had a pest control operator spray his restaurants with insecticide two to three times a week, instead of only once.

Fewer tourists have been coming to the area, and business has been halved in the last two weeks, said the shopkeepers association's chairman, Mr Rajakumar Chandra.

While acknowledging that stamping out the outbreak would not be easy, Prof Tay said that it has been confined to Little India and 'is still containable'.

'This is not a fatalistic outcome, we must not give up. Singapore has always been known to prevail despite outside conditions. The battle can actually be won,' he said.


NEA fines 8 shop owners
They did not remove roof gutters, a prime mosquito habitat
Jinny Koh, Today Online 6 Feb 08;

IN the first such enforcement action taken since the chikungunya outbreak at Clive Street, eight shop owners in Little India have been fined by the National Environment Agency (NEA) for refusing to remove their roof gutters.

Roof gutters are one of the major mosquito breeding habitats. So far, the NEA has issued 340 legal notices to property owners to remove them but only 180 have complied.

If they refuse, a fine of $2,000 will be imposed for the first offence, followed by $4,000 and $5,000 for the second and third offences respectively, after which the matter would be taken to court.

According to Mr Rajakumar Chandra, 49, chairman of the Little Indian Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, one reason for the delayed response from many retailers could be because they do not own the shophouses they occupy, and thus cannot make decisions about the removal.

Tenants occupy 99 per cent of the more than 700 shop houses in Little India.

These cases aside, however, cooperation between the NEA and shop occupants has been good.

Said NEA chairman Simon Tay during a walkabout at Little India yesterday: "Most have responded but of course there are still people we need to talk to, and they are coming around."

Mr Tay added that the NEA and the association had been distributing pamphlets on prevention tips to educate members of the public.

To date, some 10,000 pamphlets in different languages including Bengali and Sinhala have been given out.

As of Feb 1, there were 12 probable cases of chikungunya fever reported.

The NEA has stepped up its inspections in Little India, with 4,700 conducted since the first notification.

The number of NEA officers and pest control operators involved has also been boosted from 13 to 30. So far, 41 shop owners have been fined for mosquito breeding.

Owner of Ananda Bhavan Restaurant Mr Nadarajan, 52, is going all the way to ensure that his four outlets — he owns one unit and is renting the other three — are kept clean.

He sends his employees for hygiene courses, keeps his kitchen brightly lit and makes sure all unnecessary receptacles are discarded.

"Although we were careful before the outbreak, we are now more vigilant. We don't want anything to affect our image," he said. Business, he added, had dipped by 5 per cent, which is better than during the Sars epidemic when it plunged by some 30 to 40 per cent.

But not everyone has been so lucky — according to Mr Rajakumar, business at Little India is still down by 50 per cent for some.


8 building owners fined for not removing roof gutters
Channel NewsAsia 5 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE: No new cases of chikungunya fever have been reported since 1 February, but Singapore is still not free of the disease.

So far, all cases have been linked to Little India, so work to clean up the area continues.

National Environment Agency (NEA) officers have started fining homeowners who do not comply with measures to reduce mosquito-breeding sites.

More than 4,700 inspections have been carried out in Little India since the first reports of chikungunya disease in mid-January.

A total of 75 mosquito-breeding sites have been found so far. The most common problem areas are plastic pails, flower pots and roof gutters.

NEA has issued 340 orders to remove roof gutters. So far, 180 building owners have brought them down and eight owners have been fined S$2,000 for not complying.

Simon Tay, chairman of NEA, said: "Sometimes we just have to come in and fine people, no apologies for this. This is an important time for us to try to deal with this problem and to solve it."

Mr Tay said one problem is that many properties in Little India are rented out, so tenants are not able to comply with orders, and time is needed to track down the owners.

He added: "We have this resident migrant population in and out, and they will always have some issues. The habits from other countries might be different but we in Singapore are trying to educate them. We have been handing out pamphlets in other languages, really reaching out to them and we feel we will make progress."

NEA is also working with businesses and residents to tackle the problem.

K Nadarajan, restaurant owner, said: "We have taken a lot of steps in our internal housekeeping. We try to prevent mosquito breeding outside and we are hiring private pest control companies to come and fog our premises."

Many Little India businesses have been hit hard by the chikungunya disease.

Rajakumar Chandra, chairman of Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, said: "The business here has definitely been affected – almost 50 percent down for the last two to three weeks, especially after media reported that it's been detected in Little India, so people try to avoid these places."

So far 12 people have caught the chikungunya disease. There must be no new cases within 24 days from the last case before Singapore can be considered free of the disease.- CNA/so

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Jakarta governor told to tackle floods

Salim Osman, Straits Times 6 Feb 08;

Indonesian President promises central govt help in curbing the annual problem

Even if there was no rain in north Jakarta, flooding could take place during high tide. The problem is that many of our mangrove swamps that act as natural barriers have been replaced by shopping malls and housing estates so that sea water can flow inland during high tide.

JAKARTA - SIX months after the Jakarta Governor's election promise to end the city's annual floods, and with parts of the capital currently under water, Indonesia's President has told him it is time to solve the problem.

Heavy rain last Friday inundated several parts of Jakarta, cutting off the access road to the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Cengkaring for three days and leaving President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono among those trapped by rising waters.

And with more heavy rain predicted, the President met Governor Fauzi Bowo yesterday, telling him he had to work with the central government to end the flooding problem, provincial government spokesman Arie Soedarto told The Straits Times.

But the head of state appeared to be offering a carrot as well as a stick, as Mr Soedarto added: 'The President also promised that the central government would share the load with the Jakarta provincial government.'

Mr Fauzi had said on Monday, during his rounds of flood-hit areas, that funding was a problem, as getting flood-relief projects off the ground would cost the province around 1.2 trillion rupiah (S$182 million).

According to the spokesman, the President and the governor agreed on a number of projects they wanted to work on, including construction of the East Flood Canal to channel flood water to the Java Sea, and the building of relief reservoirs.

Meanwhile, four days after last Friday's deluge, some low-lying areas in west and north Jakarta were still knee-deep in water yesterday.

Office manager Sutrisno, 43, who lives in the flood-prone Rawabuaya district of West Jakarta, told The Straits Times: 'We are tired of having to put up with this annual flooding.

'The governor promised to solve the flood problem during his election campaign but has not done much to ease our suffering.'

But there may be limits to what can be done, as environmentalists say that Jakarta is prone to flooding partly because 40 per cent of the city of 12 million people is below sea level.

And Mr Fauzi told reporters after meeting the President yesterday that Jakarta was now 40cm lower than it was 18 years ago because of subsidence caused by intensive tapping of ground water by residents.

Mr Hasbi Abdul Azis of environmental group Walhi Indonesia told The Straits Times that even if there was no rain in north Jakarta, flooding could take place during high tide.

He added that rapid development of shopping malls and housing estates in catchment areas were also contributing factors to the severe flooding.

'The problem is that many of our mangrove swamps that act as natural barriers have been replaced by shopping malls and housing estates so that sea water can flow inland during high tide,' he said.

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Millions in China to greet CNY without power

Business Times 6 Feb 08;

Whole cities have had power and water cut for over a week

(KAILI, China) Trains and planes are starting to return to normal across China, but millions are likely to spend the biggest holiday of the year without power and water in what for some is the coldest winter in a century.

The freezing weather in the run-up to the Chinese New Year break, which begins today and offers the only chance for poor migrant workers to visit loved ones, has killed scores of people and left millions stranded.

Whole cities have had their power and water cut off for over a week and, so far, 11 electricians have been killed trying to reconnect lines or break ice encasing poles and cables.

Kaili, with a population of half-a-million in the subtropical southern province of Guizhou, was cut off for several days by thick ice and hail.

On the road from the provincial capital Guiyang, many areas are still covered in thick ice with pine trees wilting or broken under the weight. Local television has shown downed powerlines and towers.

Kaili and other larger county capitals are receiving electricity, but officials and locals say many villagers in the countryside remain without power and it could be many days, if not weeks, before it is restored.

Travelling through the countryside at night, hamlets were in thick darkness with only candles providing flickering light.

'The situation has been improving with all the outside assistance, but fixing supplies to smaller towns and villages will take a long time,' said engineer Zhang Xuejiang. 'Once a tower is down, it takes a lot of work to bring in a new one, especially with roads like they are.'

But for many locals, the biggest headache is skyrocketing prices with pork, rice, vegetables and other staples doubling in price, or going even higher.

Army and civilian trucks are bringing in diesel generators and boxes of blankets and food.

'The electricity is back on now, but the problems certainly aren't all over,' said a vendor named Xu Song. 'Food is so expensive.' He said he knew that leaders in Beijing were working to fix the problems. 'But we're very poor and out of the way. Anything always takes a long time.'

Another headache for residents, with telephone connections either ruptured or weak, has been trying to trace family members working as migrant workers elsewhere and planning to return for the holiday, also known as the Spring Festival.

Zhang Dehua, waiting for his son at Kaili station, had called him on a borrowed phone a couple of days ago but hadn't heard from him since.

'I was hoping he would be on that train but I don't think he was,' he said forlornly. 'I will just have to wait for the next one and maybe the next one.'

About 80,000 commuters were still stranded at the railway station in Guangzhou, capital of the booming southern province of Guangdong, but the figure was down from a peak of 800,000 last week, Xinhua news agency said\. \-- Reuters

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Malaysian palm oil prices hit record high on supply woes

Business Times 6 Feb 08;

(KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysian crude palm oil prices surged to a record high of RM3,458 (S$1,515) a tonne yesterday after Indonesia said it could increase export taxes, raising concerns about supplies.

The market also took a cue from a buoyant US soyoil market, which rose to a record high in the previous session. But late profit-taking in the soyoil market during Asian trade spilled over to palm oil, eroding gains made earlier in the day.

Indonesia said on Monday that Jakarta would would impose a 20 or 25 per cent export tax on crude palm oil and by-products if international prices climbed to US$1,200 or US$1,300 a tonne.

'If prices go on as they do, the new export taxes will definitely kick in and impact the market then,' said one Kuala Lumpur- based trader.

Palm oil prices, up 10 per cent this year, have risen on expectations of higher Chinese demand in coming months and bullish energy prices.

The benchmark April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange jumped as much as RM113, or 3.4 per cent, to RM3,458 a tonne. The contract settled up RM4 at RM3,349. 'Malaysian stockpiles have been rising because of a lack of demand, but the situation will change as China will be forced to buy. And the new Indonesia export measures will leave little palm oil available,' said a local broker.

US soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade surged on Monday on fund buying, Brazilian crop concerns and spillover buying from soybean oil. But they fell during Asian trading.

'Traders had a change of heart. They realise that soyoil cannot always prop up palm oil and it's best to cash in since soyoil has wiped out all its gains and more,' said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.

Spot palm oil is still relatively cheaper at US$1,066 per tonne, roughly 14 per cent lower than spot Argentine soyoil at US$1,240 a tonne, traders said.

Shares of Malaysian palm planters have been boosted by strong palm oil prices with local broker TA Research raising its call on shares in firms like Sime Darby , IOI Corp and Kuala Lumpur Kepong to 'buy'.

Sime shares were flat at RM12, KL Kepong was up 0.6 per cent at RM18.40 and IOI rose 0.5 per cent to RM7.75. The plantation index was up 4.3 per cent. -- Reuters

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Olympic-size skating rink in Jurong by 2009

Current ice rink to undergo $7m to $8m overhaul
Joyce Teo, Straits Times 6 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE is to get its first Olympic-size ice skating rink as part of a $138.2 million overhaul of Jurong Entertainment Centre.

The announcement by CapitaMall Trust (CMT) that it will build the new rink came two days after the Singapore Ice Skating Association complained about the difficulty of finding sponsors for a rink big enough for competition purposes.

Without a 30m by 60m Olympic-size rink, Singapore cannot be a member of the International Skating Union (ISU) and compete in ISU-sanctioned events such as the Olympics.

Ice skating association president Sonja Chong had said that she had tried for the past four years to get an Olympic-size rink built here. The body had held talks with various parties - and there is finally good news.

'We have been working with CMT and the Singapore Sports Council for the past two years,' she told The Straits Times yesterday.

CMT, a trust which owns various retail properties including the Jurong Entertainment Centre, said in a statement yesterday that it will replace the current 20m by 40m rink, operated by Fuji Ice Palace on level three of the centre, with the Olympic-size rink.

CMT said the Government granted it permission for more space at the entertainment centre last year. This allowed for a 62 per cent rise in the gross floor area of the entertainment centre to about 275,500 sq ft. The net lettable area would climb by over 89 per cent to about 209,700 sq ft.

Among CMT's plans are a rooftop landscaped garden and a newly created floor on level five for a six-screen cineplex, which is being moved from level one.

CMT is also hoping for approval to have the rink classified under a special government scheme, allowing it to donate the rink for public use in exchange for about 35,000 sq ft of extra gross floor area.

It would then be able to build more shops - which can generate higher rents.

Yesterday, Mr Pua Seck Guan, chief executive officer of CapitaMall Trust Management, said it is going ahead with the Olympic-size rink, with or without the scheme.

'Our first preference is to pass it on to the Singapore Sports Council.' But if it doesn't work out, CMT will find an operator for the rink.

He said when CMT bought the centre three years ago, it had intended to remove the rink as it generated low rent.

'But our customer survey feedback tells us that it was a major draw,' said Mr Pua.

'By bringing better facilities, we will be able to draw more sales and traffic for the centre,' he added.

About $7 million to $8 million of the $138 million capital expenditure will be spent on the rink.

Work will start at the end of this year and the new rink, together with the rest of the upgrading works, is expected to be completed at the end of next year.

'We are very, very pleased. It will allow us to apply for an ISU membership,' said Ms Chong. 'It will mean that the Singapore flag can fly at ISU events such as the Asian Winter Games.'

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CDL luxury development garners green award

Business Times 6 Feb 08;

CITY Developments Limited (CDL) was yesterday conferred the Green Mark Platinum award by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) for its luxury residential development, Cliveden at Grange.

The award is for exemplary green projects that achieve 30 per cent energy and water savings. Such projects also need to have environmentally sustainable building practices, and innovative green features.

A joint press statement from CDL and BCA said some 3.5 per cent of Cliveden's construction cost was invested in the design of its green features.

These green features include the installation of '4 Green Ticks', the highest rating in energy efficiency for air-conditioners and refrigerators, and the use of renewal energy technology. Solar photovoltaic cells are installed to harness solar energy which then power up the lighting in the guardhouse and clubhouse areas.

Cliveden's green features are expected to achieve savings in energy costs of over $400,000 a year for the entire development, and cut carbon dioxide emission by 1,100 tonnes a year. As a gauge, it takes about 5,000 trees to absorb this amount of carbon emission.

Cliveden's award is the latest in a string of accolades CDL has received for its environmentally friendly projects.

Just last year, the property developer clinched two Green Mark Platinum awards - one each for The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove (residential), and City Square Mall (commercial).

Kwek Leng Joo, CDL's managing director, yesterday said CDL embarked on its green journey over a decade ago believing that it could make a positive contribution towards the environment. He called for the Green Mark to be made mandatory to help propel Singapore to become an eco-hub in the region.

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