Nightly buzz at Jurong for the catch of the day

Danson Cheong The Straits Times AsiaOne 13 Feb 15;

IT IS just past midnight and as the rest of Singapore winds down, the lights and motors in a little corner of Jurong are just getting started and revved.

Tucked away in Singapore's west end, the Jurong Fishery Port is abuzz with activity through the wee hours of the morning.

In a 200m-long carpark, forklifts carrying carts of ice zoom about while shirtless men, covered in the salt of their sweat and the sea, drag crates full of the day's catch.

The 46-year-old Jurong Fishery Port is Singapore's oldest and largest seafood wholesale market, where seafood comes fresh off the boats.

Last year, 51,200 tonnes of seafood passed through the market and its stalls.

Everything from red snapper to milkfish to prawns to flower crabs to even Norwegian salmon is sold here.

Scouring the 9,000 sq m cement-floor space are buyers from large supermarket chains such as Sheng Siong, along with fishmongers from neighbourhood wet markets. The latter drive their pickup trucks across the island to the fishery port to buy some of the 200 tonnes of seafood available each day.

Many of them have been fishmongers for decades. Among them are 53-year-old twin sisters Loh May Lam and Loh May Hong, who have been running a fish stall at Bukit Timah Market for more than 30 years.

"We like to come here early, so we have more time to look around," said younger sister May Lam, as she prepared her empty styrofoam boxes to be filled with fish. The sisters arrive at the market around 2am every trading day, about an hour before the action starts.
Then they slosh through icy-cold water with other buyers.

The day's catch is laid out on the floor with ice dumped over it to keep it cool. But in Singapore's heat, the ice melts quickly and the fishy-smelling water runs everywhere, in rivulets over slippers and the ubiquitous rubber boots.

"It's a fish market. Some people come here because it's interesting, but for us it's work," said the younger Madam Loh in between dodging Hokkien-yelling porters, who help to carry boxes full of fish, and picking out two baskets of prawns and sotong (Malay for squid). "We don't have a list for what to buy - we get whatever is fresh."

Prices at the market can be up to 20 per cent lower than at wet markets, so on weekends a small crowd of seafood lovers visit the place to haggle and make purchases straight from the wholesalers.

By 5am, the action winds down and most of the workers head to the canteen for breakfast.

The Jurong Fishery Port started operating in 1969 and was last renovated in the 1980s.

There are plans to give the 5.1ha space, which includes a port for docking fishing vessels, a 400m-long wharf and the fish market, a facelift.

But the authorities have not given details on when that would take place or what would be upgraded.

Wholesalers, however, have come up with their own wish lists.

Many hope the fishery port can become a bustling tourist attraction, like Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco or Tsukiji Market in Tokyo.

"We could add another level to the market and have fish processing services there, and have seafood restaurants for the public," said Mr Lee Boon Cheow, 76, who runs High Tide Frozen Food. He is also president of the Singapore Fish Merchants' General Association.

The fishery port is underutilised, he noted. It is busy from midnight to 6am, but empty at other times. "This is one of the oldest public facilities in Singapore - look at how much Housing Board flats have changed over the years," he said.

Many are hoping the upgrade will attract younger Singaporeans to the industry.

"This is backbreaking work. Young people these days cannot do hard work," said Mr Yang Ah Ming, 72, who works as a porter hauling loads of fish and ice.

He makes about $600 a month dragging loads of between 30kg and 40kg for three hours. "I've been doing it for so long that my hands always smell of fish."

Many of the older fishmongers and wholesalers are worried they might not live to see the new port.

"They've been talking about renovating the place for so long, but it hasn't happened," said Mr Cher Chek Cher, 72, a supervisor at Teo Seng Fish Agency.

"I'm so old already. I don't know if I will be alive to see it."

Read more!

Off-the-beaten-track outings

tabla! AsiaOne 13 Feb 15;

Ms Savita Kashyap is executive director of Journeys, a heritage tour company, which operates The Original Singapore Walks. It aims to bring people to the city's best-kept secret places.

She is also a member of a walking group called Jeywalkers which is named after its founder, Jeya Ayadurai, a prominent local historian who heads an associate company, Singapore History Consultants.

The walking group explores the lesser-known corners of Singapore every Sunday.

"We typically walk an average of 12km every time," Ms Kashyap says. These are her recommendations:

The Green Corridor: One of my favourite getaways, the old railway tracks of the former Malayan Railway that ran from Tanjong Pagar station all through Malaysia up to southern Thailand.

We've walked the entire 25km in Singapore up to Woodlands station. The railway line ran through some quiet but beautiful estates.

Today, only two old stations are left standing, Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar. My children and husband often join the group when we explore such places.

Southern Ridges: Another favourite with the Jeywalkers is the Southern Ridges area around Pasir Panjang and Alexandra.

We love walking from Kent Ridge Park, taking the various canopy walks and bridges all the way to Mount Faber.

Along the way there are beautiful black and white bungalows dating back to pre-war times in the 1930s. Nearby at Portsdown Road is Colbar, a unique colonial-style cafe run by Mr and Mrs Lim since pre-independence days.

Changi area: Yet another place we return to regularly is the Changi area which feels like Singapore in the '60s with the small and quaint shops at Changi Village and old chalets.

Haw Par Villa: Lastly, my current favourite is Haw Par Villa which was built in 1936 and opened to the public by Mr Aw Boon Haw, the brilliant businessman behind Tiger Balm.

The park has the most unique, even bizarre, sculptures and dioramas reflecting Asian philosophy and culture and Chinese classics.

A walk around this park is not only entertaining but extremely edifying and I love taking visitors there to learn about Asian culture.

Read more!

Higher PSI in eastern part of Singapore on Friday

AsiaOne 13 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE - The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the eastern part of Singapore continued to hit the moderate range on Friday, after complaints of hazy conditions since Thursday night.

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA) website, the 24-hour PSI reading in the east was 79 as of 5pm. The rest of Singapore saw PSI readings between 56 to 63 at 5pm.

Residents living in the eastern part of Singapore have been complaining of a burning smell on Thursday night.

The Straits Times reported that those staying in Siglap, Bedok, Pasir Ris and East Coast Road were affected as early as 6.30pm.

The National Environment Agency showed a PSI level of 79 at 3am on Friday morning while the other regions reflected readings of 21 and below.

The amount of PM2.5 pollutants in the east also peaked at 155 at 3am on Friday, according to the NEA's MyEnb app, before dropping to 51 at 8am. At 2pm, the reading was 22. The PM2.5 reading measures small, toxic particles which can be emitted by forest fires, vehicles, power plants, refineries, ships and aircraft.

The PM2.5 reading for the rest of Singapore was in the range of 20-26 at 2pm, reported The Straits Times.

Twitter users flooded the site with pictures and updates on the haze. @Zhuangg said it "feels like a 300 outside my house" at 2am even though the reported PSI level was 68 then while @jkigay thought there was a "fire accident" in the east.

In response to speculation on fires, The Straits Times said that the Singapore Civil Defence Force confirmed at 9.30pm that there had been none reported in the affected areas.

Eastern Singapore stench likely caused by industry or rubbish burning, scientist says
AUDREY TAN Straits Times 13 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE - A strong burning smell detected in eastern Singapore on Thursday evening was likely caused by unusual industrial activity or the burning of rubbish, a research scientist told The Straits Times on Friday.

Residents of Pasir Ris, Tampines and Bedok had complained of the stench, which some described as being like burning plastic.

But research scientist Erik Velasco of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology's Centre for Environmental Sensing and Modelling ruled out haze as a possible cause, saying it was an "isolated event".

"The smoke-haze from fires blanketed, in major or minor proportion, the whole island and not only one region like in this case," he explained.

He believed that the smell could have been caused by the burning of rubbish or unusual industrial activity, such as illegally using material like old tyres, plastic bottles and oil for electric transformers as fuel.

"By 11 am (on Friday), the PM2.5 (a type of pollutant particle) concentration in the east had dropped to typical levels," he said. "However, if the spike on PM2.5 and bad smell occurs again, the authorities will have to investigate the origin."

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Friday that it had contacted its Malaysian counterparts to enquire if any changes have been observed in the air quality in Johor. It added that the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) - a measure of air quality here - has remained in the moderate range.

"NEA will continue to monitor the air quality readings and notify the public if there are any changes to the PSI," a spokesman said. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) also confirmed that there had been no fires reported in the affected areas.

At 9pm on Thursday, the east had a PM2.5 reading of 44, while the north, west and central Singapore hovered at 16. The south had registered a reading of 5.

PM2.5 dropped to 24 in the east at noon on Friday. That hour, the rest of Singapore registered readings ranging from 21 (north) to 34 (south and west). And as of 5pm on Friday, the hourly PM2.5 readings stabilised in the 'good' range across Singapore.

Dr Velasco said the PM2.5 concentration spike in the east is likely to be a "very local emission source" and not caused by wildfires in neighbouring islands.

NEA: Air quality in eastern Singapore remains 'moderate'
Yahoo News 13 Feb 15;

A spokesperson for Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday said that the air quality in Singapore continues to be “moderate”, in response to queries from Yahoo Singapore.

She also added that NEA has contacted their counterparts in Malaysia to check if any changes to air quality had been observed in Johor.

“NEA will continue to monitor the air quality readings and notify the public if there are any changes to the PSI,” she said.

This comes after the pollutant concentrations index, better known as the PM2.5 reading, spiked in the East area of Singapore overnight on Friday, following complaints from residents in the area of a "burning smell" on Thursday evening.

The one-hour PM2.5 reading in the East area was 97 at 1am, and dropped to 76 before spiking to 155 at 3am. It later fell to 24 at 4am, but at 8am, it shot back up to 51 from 17 at 7am.

PM2.5 readings measure the amount of particulate matter smaller than or equivalent to 2.5 micrometers in size, which are considered to pose the greatest amount of health risk because they can lodge deeply into human lungs.

These levels were all below 22 around the rest of the island overnight, with only the West area showing a reading of 28 at 8am.

On Wednesday evening, residents in Siglap, Pasir Ris, East Coast Road and Bedok reported detecting a "strong burning smell". On Friday morning, commuters travelling from the East noticed hazier-than-usual conditions.

The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the East was also consistently higher than in the rest of the country, staying well above 70 through the night, and stood at 78 at 8am. Around the North, West, South and central regions, PSI levels hovered mostly below 60.

Read more!

Malaysia: Air quality reaches unhealthy levels in Penang

PREDEEP NAMBIAR New Straits Times 12 Feb 15;

GEORGE TOWN: Haze has made its seasonal comeback to Penang, with an unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) recorded at the Universiti Sains Malaysia station on the island here today.

With levels peaking slightly over 100 API, the situation is presently the worst in the country, before was Banting, Selangor at 80.

Checks showed that the island was not visible from the Penang Bridge.

As at 1pm today, the API reading on the island stood at 104, rising from a reading of 77 just an hour before.

The readings at the two stations on the mainland remained at moderate levels, with the Perai station recording a level of 58, and the Seberang Jaya 2, Perai station a reading of 74.

Read more!

Indonesia: Riau gears up for fires, haze

Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 14 Feb 15;

The Riau provincial administration has kick-started the Haze Disaster Command Station at Roesmin Nurjadin Airport in Pekanbaru as the number of hotspots and forest and land fires has increased and is predicted to keep rising until next month.

Acting Riau governor Arsyadjuliandi “Andi” Rahman said the reactivation of the station was aimed at preventing the forest and land fires from further expanding and causing a haze disaster as occurred early last year.

“Forest and land fire mitigation will be carried out in a cross-sectoral manner and coordinated under a command. The mitigation measures will be jointly discussed and evaluated at the station on a daily basis,” said Andi on Friday.

Despite the further spread of hotspots in Riau, Andi had yet to consider it necessary to raise the status of the mission to the emergency-response level. “We remain in a state of caution. Every regency and city is equipped with a standard forest and land fire mitigation team involving the Indonesian Military, police, prosecutor’s office, Fire Awareness Community and companies, all of which are moving to the field,” said Andi.

He also said it was yet to be necessary for the provincial administration to ask for help from the central government in firefighting efforts. However, he said he would continue to coordinate with the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to anticipate emergency situations that might arise.

Andi called on all plantation and forestry companies in Riau to protect their concession areas and immediately put out any fires.

“The Riau provincial administration is never tired of appealing to every element of society to be aware and active to eliminate every potential fire in their respective surroundings because the weather in Riau will be further be dry from February until March,” added Andi.

Based on the latest satellite images issued by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Friday, the number of hotspots in Riau had reached 65.

The majority were detected in Bengkalis regency with 43 hotspots, followed by Indragiri Hilir (9), Siak (6), Pelalawan (4), Meranti Islands (2) and Rokan Hilir (1).

“As many as 29 of them have been indicated to be fire spots, with a credibility level of over 70 percent,” said Pekanbaru BMKG information and data division head Slamet Riyadi.

“Despite the increase in the number of hotspots, so far haze has yet to appear and visibility at a number of observation posts still remains at around 6 kilometers, which is normal,” said Slamet.

The weather in Riau is predicted to be bright and cloudy in the next few days with low rain intensity, with rain in the afternoon or evening in the eastern, southern and western parts of the province.

Bengkalis dominates with the highest number of hotspots in the past two weeks, while more than 100 hectares of forest have been razed in regencies directly facing the Malacca Strait.

To maximize firefighting efforts, the Bengkalis regency administration has raised its alert status to the level of forest and land fire emergency alert.

“The fires have been taking place for a month. They have razed a large area and spread to a number of spots so the firefighting teams are facing a big challenge to put them out,” said Bengkalis Regent Herliyan Saleh.

He urged the police to take legal action as the fires were believed to have been started intentionally, to make way for plantations.

Separately, Riau Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Aryo Tejo said at least 80 personnel had been sent to Bengkalis to help firefighting efforts as well as to investigate whether the cause of the fires was intentional or natural.

Haze from forest and land fires in Sumatra has been an annual problem for almost two decades. In the past few years, haze has begun to move toward Singapore and Malaysia, causing tension between the Indonesian government and its neighbors.

- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/14/riau-gears-fires-haze.html#sthash.DCvPqZcG.dpuf

Read more!

Human health benefits from protecting biodiversity highlighted in new CBD-WHO report

TRAFFIC 13 Feb 15;

Montreal, Canada /Kolkata, India 13th February 2015—A ground-breaking report on biodiversity and health, launched today at the 14th World Congress on Public Health, in Kolkata, India, shows the significant contribution of biodiversity and ecosystem services to better human health.

The report, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, demonstrates that the relationship between biodiversity and human health is extensive and complex. It outlines the ways that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity has positive impacts on human health, including through impacts on water and air quality, nutrition, non-communicable and infectious diseases, and medicines, among others.

Prepared by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the report features contributions from numerous partners and over 100 experts.

“TRAFFIC congratulates the CBD and WHO on this important milestone publication in support of international efforts to save our planet’s biodiversity and in highlighting the vital role biodiversity plays in protecting human health and well-being,” said Roland Melisch, TRAFFIC’s Senior Programme Director for Europe and Africa.

TRAFFIC contributed to the report’s advanced draft chapters on Traditional Medicine, Biodiversity, Health Care and Pharmaceuticals, in particular highlighting the importance of many wild-harvested plant species used as medicines by communities world-wide. The issues of sustainability of wild harvesting of plants were also raised in the chapter on Agricultural Biodiversity and Food Security.

Many medicinal plant species are at risk from over-harvesting and TRAFFIC contributed case studies illustrating how sustainable harvesting and management of wild plant resources following the FairWild Standard criteria can both enhance the conservation status of plants and ensure equitable sharing of the benefits from the resource, including their human health contribution.

The case-studies include work by TRAFFIC and other partners in China on supporting the Traditional Chinese Medicine sector in establishing sustainable supply chains for wild plants. These case-studies have also contributed to the Biodiversity and Community Health initiative (BaCH), to which TRAFFIC is a partner.

“Wild plants form the bedrock of traditional health care systems world-wide, but they are under increasing pressure from over-exploitation” said Anastasiya Timoshyna, TRAFFIC’s Medicinal Plants Programme Leader. “Ensuring wild medicinal plants are managed sustainably for the benefit of all is in everyone’s best interests—and the FairWild Standard sets out clearly how to go about achieving this.”

Previously, at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting held in South Korea in October 2014, TRAFFIC tabled an intervention calling upon Parties to scale-up their plant conservation efforts, in particular on sustainable use of plants and for in situ conservation of threatened plant species in order to meet their international commitments towards achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

The report launched today also compliments the ongoing efforts of TRAFFIC, WHO, WWF and IUCN in updating the Guidelines on Conservation of Medicinal Plants.

“As today’s report makes clear, protecting valuable medicinal plant species must be an international conservation priority—not simply to meet agreed common conservation goals, but because for many it is quite literally a matter of live or death,” said Timoshyna.

Read more!

From Bangkok to Bhutan, growing cities race to outrun disasters

Alisa Tang PlanetArk 13 Feb 15;

Asia's fast-growing cities are struggling to build the roads, waste management and drinking water systems that could help protect their swelling populations from climate-related disasters, said city leaders from across the region.

Many of these cities are in disaster-prone coastal areas, river deltas and floodplains. Experts estimate that by 2030, 55 percent of the 3.7 billion people in developing Asian nations will be living in cities.

"Asia-Pacific is the region of the world most affected by the impacts of climate change," Bangkok Deputy Governor Pusadee Tamthai told a forum on urban resilience.

"This is because this is the fastest-growth region, with a lack of urban planning to accommodate the cities' expansion and especially the environmental problems."

About 300 city officials, development experts and researchers from 100 cities in 30 countries in Asia, North America and Europe convened in Bangkok for the three-day conference that ends on Friday.

Asia-Pacific is the region most affected by disasters, with 714,000 deaths from natural disasters between 2004 and 2013, more than treble the previous decade, and economic losses topping $560 billion, according to the United Nations.

"The Asia-Pacific region is also in the midst of the largest and most consequential urban transformation in history," said Shunichi Murata, deputy executive secretary of the U.N.'s development arm for the region.

He noted that 2.1 billion people live in the region's cities and towns, making up more than half of the world's urban population.

"These numbers are poised to increase as the region further urbanizes," said Murata. "Many of these cities and towns lie in highly vulnerable areas."

It was "sobering" to note that eight out of the 12 largest disasters impacting cities between 2000 and 2010 happened in Asia and the Pacific, he added.

Deputy city governor Pusadee said Bangkok was expanding its mass transit rail system to reduce traffic congestion in the center, while also promoting cycling with 50 bike-sharing stations around the city.

Bangkok was also teaming up with the private sector to build a waste-to-energy plant that would process 300 to 500 tonnes of waste per day, said Supachai Tantikom, advisor to the governor.

The city produces about 9,000 tonnes of waste daily, 90 percent of which goes to landfills in nearby provinces, Supachai said.

In Bhutan, the capital Thimphu has sprawled to the size of 26 sq km, from only 8 sq km in 2002, and its population has grown to 130,000 from 85,000 a decade ago, said city mayor Kinlay Dorjee.

While Thimphu, a city in the mountains, does not face flooding like larger low-lying cities in the region, climate change has impacted water availability, he said.

"We have glaciers melting... and the issue of not having adequate water in the river because of increasing temperatures and heat," Dorjee said.

Thimphu had previously taken most of its water from small streams, but with these now suffering water shortages, the city has had to "tap the main river" for its water supply, he said.

"Our water sources are drying up," he added.

(Editing by Megan Rowling)

Read more!

Climate pact blueprint adopted in Geneva

Channel NewsAsia 13 Feb 15;

GENEVA: Negotiators in Geneva adopted a climate blueprint on Friday (Feb 13), a symbolic milestone in the fraught UN process that must culminate in a universal pact in Paris in December.

Assembled over the past six days, the 86-page draft plan for limiting man-made global warming was gavelled through at the close of six days of talks, prompting applause from delegates.

"The task of this session has been achieved," UN climate chief Christiana Figueres told reporters ahead of the closing. "We have a text today ..., the formal negotiating text that will be the basis for negotiations for the next few months until we get to Paris", where the final pact will be adopted.

Ever since the 2009 Copenhagen conference failed to deliver a world agreement, the 195 nations gathered under the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been working on a new project for adoption by the end of this year.

Set to be signed at the November 30-December 11 UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris, the pact must enter into force by 2020 to further the UN goal of limiting warming to 2°C (3.6°F) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

Scientists warn that at current greenhouse gas emission trends, Earth is on track for double that, or more - a recipe for catastrophic droughts, storms, floods and rising sea levels.

Negotiators emerged from the last COP in Lima last December, with a hard-fought framework text that remained hotly contested.

The February 8-13 Geneva talks, one of three special sessions added to this year's official UN climate agenda, was tasked with "streamlining" the Lima document. Instead, the meeting's mandate was changed early on to seeking universal endorsement of the text, which more than doubled since Sunday until all countries were satisfied their views were included.

The process was widely hailed for creating a sense of common purpose and goodwill in a text with universal buy-in. But it also yielded a vast document listing a variety of alternative approaches on most issues - often reflecting country positions that diametrically oppose one another.

And that means hard choices will have to be made in the months to come, starting with the next negotiating round in Bonn in June. "We have now agreed on a negotiating text. It provides us with the basis for moving forward," Elina Bardram, head of the EU delegation, told AFP.

But she added: "We would have wished for more advancement. The introduction of missing elements in the text is an achievement, but it does mean that the tough negotiations lie ahead of us and we are running out of time. We need a step change between now and Paris."

OPTIONS FROM A TO Z

"All the crunch issues are still on the table," added to Climate Action Network spokeswoman Alix Mazounie. "We have options going from A to Z".

At the very core of the pact, countries remain deeply divided on the issue of "differentiation" - how to share responsibility for emissions cuts between rich and poor nations. Developing countries also want their developed counterparts to commit to long-term climate financing, and insist on compensation for climate-change induced losses and damage suffered.

"I don't think there's any doubt that the negotiations are going to get more difficult," said veteran observer Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The first step before you can get to addressing those is to have a common picture of what the agreement is going to look like in terms of what the outline is, what the elements are in it. They have it now."

- AFP/ec

Geneva talks: countries agree draft text for deal to fight climate change
Delegates from almost 200 countries adopt 86-page draft as basis for negotiations on deal to be agreed at Paris climate summit
Reuters The Guardian 13 Feb 15;

Almost 200 countries agreed a draft text for a deal to fight climate change on Friday, but put off hard choices about narrowing down a vast range of options for limiting a damaging rise in temperatures.

Government delegates adopted the 86-page draft as the basis for negotiations on the deal due to be agreed later this year.

But the document includes radically varying proposals for slowing climate change – one foresees a phase-out of net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, for instance, while another seeks a peak of emissions “as soon as possible”.

“Although it has become longer, countries are now fully aware of each other’s positions,” said Christiana Figueres, the head of the UN climate change secretariat, referring to an earlier 38-page document which formed the basis of discussions.

Negotiators had to agree an official text in Geneva to meet a UN requirement that it is in place six months before a summit in Paris starting in November 2015.

Figueres said the long text would make the next negotiating session in June “a little bit more difficult”.

Delegates praised a positive mood at what are often fractious talks about sharing out the burden of curbing greenhouse gases among nations as diverse as China and the United States, Opec states or sub-Saharan African nations.

The European Union said negotiators should have started the harder task of streamlining the text. “We have lost an opportunity for progress,” said Elina Bardram, head of the European Commission delegation.

Activists said it was positive that all views were present in the draft text, even ideas such as a Bolivian demand for an International Climate Justice Tribunal for countries that fail to keep pledges for action.

“Everything in Geneva has set us up for success at Paris,” said Julie-Anne Richards of the Climate Justice Programme. She said Geneva contrasted with many UN sessions that can “feel like pulling teeth ... painful and hard to get things done”.

Last year was the warmest on record and the UN panel of climate scientists says man-made climate change is already visible in more heat extremes, downpours and rising sea levels as ice melts from the Alps to the Andes.

“The 2015 climate negotiations are off to a promising start,” said Jennifer Morgan, head of the climate programme at the World Resources Institute think-tank. “Much hard work remains.”

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 13 Feb 15

Join us for our March Holiday Programme – Under the Sea! Workshop
from News from Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum

Read more!

More hazy in eastern part of Singapore this morning

Channel NewsAsia 13 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE: The eastern part of Singapore is slightly hazier than the other regions on Friday morning (Feb 13), as the PSI reading showed it was at 78 while the others ranged between 57 and 61 at 8am, according to the National Environment Agency's (NEA) website.

The amount of PM2.5 pollutants in the east was also higher overnight, peaking at 79 at 3am before coming down to 78 at 8am, NEA data showed. The PM2.5 reading measures particulate matter of 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter.

Channel NewsAsia also received pictures and feedback from residents in the east on our Facebook and Twitter platforms stating it is hazy and smoky.

Facebook user Tay YL told us at 7.32am that it was "very hazy and smoky at Bedok", while another Facebook user Nicolas Ng said "there is a very thick haze smell in Bedok South".

Twitter user @DillonLFC7 also said there was "definitely a strong smell" of burning and haze in the Tampines area. Another Twitter user @vzmahajan said there was "poor visibility" at Pasir Ris Drive 6 at 7.20am.

ST readers complain of strong burning smell in the east of Singapore
LEE MIN KOK Straits Times 12 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE - A strong burning smell was prevalent in the eastern part of Singapore on Thursday evening.

An ST reader wrote in to say she detected the smell while riding on the MRT from Tanah Merah station towards Pasir Ris.

Twitter user @theGretL claimed it smelt like burning plastic, while readers staying in Siglap, Bedok, Pasir Ris and East Coast Road said they were affected as early as 6.30pm.

As of 9.30pm, the Singapore Civil Defence Force confirmed that there had been no fires reported in the affected areas.

A check on the National Environment Agency's app MyEnv revealed that that the hourly PM2.5 reading in the east peaked at 44 at 9pm, an unusually high reading compared to the other parts of Singapore. It dropped down to 30 at 10pm. The PM2.5 reading for the north, west and central at 9pm hovered at 16 and the south registered 5.

PM2.5 are small, toxic particles that can be emitted by forest fires, vehicles, power plants, refineries, ships and aircraft, and to a lesser extent by construction and land reclamation.

Are you affected? Tell us.

Read more!

Proposed law will allow Govt to acquire specific stratum of underground space

YVONNE LIM Today Online 12 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE — A new law that enables the Government to acquire a specific stratum of underground space to develop public projects, instead of having to acquire the entire column of land, was proposed in Parliament today (Feb 12).

The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to amend the existing Land Acquisition Act, will also allow for acquisition of a specific stratum of airspace.

Additionally under the proposed law, landowners whose land rights have been violated due to temporary occupation, acquisition of underground or airspace stratum, or severance, may request for the Government to acquire their land.

The Bill will also seek to streamline and refine the legal framework for temporary occupation of land for public purposes. These amendments will facilitate the Government’s future long-term plans to use and develop underground space “in land-scarce Singapore”, a statement by the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said.

“More extensive use of underground space will benefit Singaporeans as surface land may be used for other purposes, such as park and greenery, homes and offices,” MinLaw said.

Meanwhile, amendments to the State Lands Act were also introduced today under the State Lands (Amendment) Bill. The amendments state that landowners also possess 30m of subterranean land below the Singapore Height Datum (SHD). Land deeper than 30m SHD will belong to the State.

The SHD is a level fixed across the whole of Singapore, from which height measurements take reference. It is pegged to Singapore’s historical mean sea level.

Currently, the law states that any land surface — and the column below it — is for the use and enjoyment of the landower as “reasonably necessary”. But the law does not spell out the specific amount of underground land belonging to the landowner.

The amendments will not affect how landowners use and develop their underground space, and they will still have all the space they need, the MinLaw statement said, as basement developments in Singapore generally only extend to about 15m underground.

Changes proposed to State Lands Act regarding underground space
Faris Mokhtar Channel NewsAsia 12 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE: Land owners of both residential and commercial properties can only develop its underground space up to a depth of 30 metres under the Singapore Height Datum, under proposed changes to the State Lands Act.

The Singapore Height Datum is a level fixed across the whole of Singapore, from which height measurements take reference.

The State Lands Act was one of two Acts introduced in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 12) that will see changes to facilitate long-term planning for the use and development of underground space.

Currently, the State Lands Act is ambiguous in nature regarding the extent of underground ownership - it only states that those who own the land above ground also own the underground space, to a depth reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the property.

Proposed changes to the Act will seek to clarify that. However, the Ministry of Law said it will not affect how land owners currently use and develop their underground space. The drilling of piles to the depths required for the support of surface developments will also still be allowed.

In general, the developments of underground space can extend to about 15 metres deep. For example, ION Orchard's underground basement reaches a depth of about 10 metres, while the development beneath Fusionopolis measures about 15 metres deep to build the One-North MRT line.

The Land Acquisition Act will also be amended, giving the Government flexibility to acquire a specific pocket of underground space or airspace should it be required for development of a public project. This will minimise inconveniences, especially to landed property owners.

The Law Ministry said that changes to the two Acts are "necessary" to facilitate the Government's long-term planning for the use and development of underground space in the future.

- CNA/ac

2 Bills pave way for city beneath city
Cheryl Ong The Straits Times AsiaOne 15 Feb 15;

As land-scarce Singapore looks to develop more underground space, legal amendments were tabled yesterday to pave the way for this city beneath a city.

Two Bills were introduced in Parliament to clarify ownership rights to underground and above-ground space and to allow for the acquisition of this space.

The main focus for now is below ground. Landholders will be deemed to own the space down to 30m below a level known as the Singapore height datum (SHD) - a flat islandwide plane not varying according to land contours and pegged to the mean historical sea level - unless stated otherwise in the land title.

Land more than 30m below the SHD will belong to the State and developments at such depths are "unlikely" to affect the owner's property use, said the Ministry of Law. Most basements here, for instance, go no deeper than about 15m below the SHD.

The changes will bring clarity to an existing law that stipulates only that ownership applies to a depth that is "reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the property". Piling works are unaffected by the changes.

The move follows a proposal by National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan last September to lay out an underground master plan. This includes possible underground pedestrian links, cycling lanes, shopping areas and public spaces. The Jurong Rock Caverns is the deepest underground project here, at 150m below the SHD. So far, Fusionopolis in one-north is the deepest commercial project, at 15.8m below the SHD.

A second Bill means the Government would be able to acquire strata space below or above ground to develop public projects, without owning the surface land.

An example of above-ground use of space might be a flyover.

For underground space, land owners will be compensated for the acquired stratum at "market value", or for any subsequent damage to the surface development.

Though it is unclear how underground space will be valued, a ministry spokesman said compensation will be "site specific" .

"The boundaries of all surface land are precisely marked out," said the spokesman. "What we are trying to do is clarify the boundaries for the vertical plane of this space as well."

The Bills will not change laws that allow for compulsory acquisition of land by the Government.

The Rochor Centre housing and commercial complex in Ophir Road, for instance, was acquired to make way for a segment of the new North-South Expressway.

Mr Robson Lee, a corporate lawyer, said of the move: "The Government is planning for the future, and will need to have legislative backing to give legal basis to do what it needs to do."

Read more!

Licensing regime to be introduced for deep seabed mining

SIAU MING EN Today Online 12 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans and companies based here will have to obtain a licence before mining for minerals in the open sea as the Deep Seabed Mining Bill was passed in Parliament today (12 Feb).

The Bill — which covers the seabed, ocean floor and subsoil beyond territorial waters — will not only protect the marine environment from mining activities on the ocean floor, but is also in line with Singapore’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Speaking in Parliament during the second reading of the Bill today, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said the licensing regime will ensure that companies “undertake deep seabed exploration and extraction activities in a responsible manner, and not cause damage to the marine environment”.

“Penalties will be put in place to serve as deterrence against potential violations or, in the event of non-compliance, to hold errant companies accountable for their actions,” said Mr Lim.

Under the new laws, offenders may be fined up to S$300,000 for an initial offence or jailed for up to three months or both. They may also be subjected to a further fine of no more than S$50,000 every day for a continuing offence, which is capped at S$500,000.

Mr Lim added that to obtain a licence, companies must meet certain conditions, such as having the technological and financial capabilities to carry out their activities and taking necessary measures to minimize damage to the marine environment.

Noting that the deep seabed mining is an emerging industry, Mr Lim said the Bill allows Singapore companies to enter the industry. Singapore can also leverage on its strengths and experience in the offshore oil and gas, marine engineering and trading sectors to capitalise on the growing opportunities within the deep seabed mining industry, he added.

During the debate, Member of Parliament Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) raised questions about the Bill, including the authorities’ capabilities to question and scrutinise applications, and how the monitoring of these companies will be carried out given that these contracts can stretch between 10 and 15 years.

In response, Mr Lim said companies will have to apply for a contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and get the Singapore authorities to sponsor the application. On Singapore’s end, an inter-agency taskforce — comprising of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Law and the Attorney General’s Chamber — has also been set up to oversee applications for licenses.

As for monitoring these contracts, Mr Lim said that on top of ISA’s regular monitoring mechanism, which requires contractors to submit annual reports on their exploration activities, companies will also be required to file reports on a regular basis to Singapore authorities.

“We will monitor our sponsor entities on this basis and will intervene if our companies are at risk of non-compliance,” he said.

To date, only one Singapore-based company, Ocean Mineral Singapore, has notified the authorities about their plans to undertake deep seabed exploration, said Mr Lim.

Read more!