3 land parcels awarded under new tender mode

Price evaluated only after quality of bids assessed; plots awarded for agriculture
Toh Ting Wei Straits Times 19 Feb 19;

Three land parcels have been awarded for agriculture on 20-year leases at Sungei Tengah near Choa Chu Kang through a new tender process, which first looks at quality, then price.

Applicants were first assessed on their production capability, production track record, relevant qualifications and innovation and sustainability under the new Concept and Price tender method. Those who passed were then evaluated on price, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said yesterday.

These companies submitted proposals that incorporated productive and innovative farming systems, such as a recirculating aquaculture system for shrimp farming with auto loaders and feeders and sensors to monitor water quality, and a climate-controlled greenhouse with automatic conveyor belts for growing ornamental aquatic plants.

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Singapore Budget 2019: New aquaculture centre to work on improving Singapore's food resilience

Cheryl Teh Straits Times 18 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE - More is being done to transform the food production process, and make Singapore's food supplies more secure.

“In the digital age, we still need food, not just bits and bytes,” Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said in his Budget speech on Monday (Jan 18), adding that the agriculture and food production sectors are transforming to meet this need.

A new Centre of Innovation in Aquaculture at Temasek Polytechnic will work on promoting aquaculture (high-tech marine farming) and will be funded to find ways to improve Singapore’s food resilience, said Mr Heng.

He cited the example of St John’s sea bass, a fish breed developed by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority’s (AVA) Marine Aquaculture Centre and its collaboration with the Temasek Life Sciences laboratory, a beneficiary of Temasek Trust.

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Budget 2019: Total infrastructure bill to rise as Singapore fights climate change and rising sea levels

CYNTHIA CHOO Today Online 18 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE — The Government will be investing more “to protect Singapore against climate change and rising sea levels”, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said, stressing the urgency for Singapore to plan for climate change beyond the next decade.

“Together with existing infrastructure needs, our total bill for infrastructure will increase significantly,” he said during his Budget speech on Monday (Feb 18).

While it is “very difficult” to project spending needs “way into the future”, Mr Heng said that the different government ministries have done some preliminary estimates.

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Indonesia: Wild elephants ravage coconut plantation in Pekanbaru

Antara 18 Feb 19;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - A herd of wild Sumatran elephants (elephas maximus sumatranus) ravaged a coconut plantation in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, on Monday morning.

"Some 13 elephants entered the plantation," Mangido Nababan, owner of the plantation, informed Antara, here, Monday.

The elephants were first spotted by local residents on Saturday evening (Feb 16), and they later entered Nababan`s plantation.

Hundreds of seedlings and some 20 four-year-old coconut trees were eaten and damaged by the elephants.

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Best of our wild blogs: 18 Feb 19

Assorted Nectaring Plants - Part 2
Butterflies of Singapore

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Malaysia: Nicky, the friendly dugong

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 18 Feb 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Nowadays, one needs luck to spot dugongs in the wild, let alone play and swim with them. Their sightings are rarely, if at all, reported.

But two years ago, a group of tourists had Lady Luck on their side when they came across a dugong swimming beside their boat.

The tourists, who were guests of the Try Scuba Sdn Bhd dive company, were headed towards Pulau Kalampunian Damit and Pulau Besar Kalampunian when the dugong made a surprise appearance.

“I’ve not seen a dugong for a long time after my first encounter with one at Pulau Mantanani between 2005 and 2007. So, to see it after over 10 years and in an area you least expect it, is remarkable,” said company owner Rudy Mattahari, 51.

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Indonesia: 'The case is irregular' - Company speaks up in Lake Toba dead fish incident

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post 17 Feb 19;

Fish breeder PT Aquafarm Nusantara has begun an independent investigation into a pollution case in Lake Toba, North Sumatra, following a reprimand from the local administration, which has accused the company of the violation.

The North Sumatra administration has issued a warning to the country’s largest tilapia breeder after the recent finding of sacks of dead fish in waters near one of the company’s warehouses.

The company has denied involvement in the case and expressed its commitment to finding the perpetrators.

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Indonesian presidential hopefuls vow energy self-sufficiency through palm

Reuters Yahoo News 18 Feb 19;

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's two presidential candidates pledged on Sunday to achieve energy self-sufficiency by boosting the use of bioenergy, particularly fueled by palm oil, to cut costly oil imports by Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, has been pushing for all diesel fuel used in the country to contain biodiesel to boost palm consumption, slash fuel imports, and narrow a yawning current account gap.

In a televised election debate, President Joko Widodo said if he won a second term the government planned to implement a B100 program, referring to fuel made entirely from palm oil, after last year making it mandatory to use biodiesel containing 20 percent bio-content (B20).

"We hope 30 percent of total palm production will go to biofuel. The plan is clear, so we will not rely on imported oil," Widodo said, adding that Indonesia's crude palm oil production had reached 46 million tonnes a year.

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Best of our wild blogs: 17 Feb 19

Nudibranchs and Natural Values
Hantu Blog

Our Cool and Amazing Forest – Love MacRitchie Walk (Feb 2019)
Love our MacRitchie Forest

Afternoon Walk At Windsor Nature Park (16 Feb 2019)
Beetles@SG BLOG

Finding Samurai
BES Drongos

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Burning smell in north-east Singapore likely related to fire at landfill in Pasir Gudang: NEA

Timothy Goh Straits Times 17 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE - A burning smell in north-east Singapore is likely related to a fire at the Tanjong Langsat landfill in Pasir Gudang, Johor, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The agency told The Straits Times on Sunday (Feb 17) that it had received nine feedback cases on the smell between Friday evening and 11pm on Saturday. Eight of them were received after 6pm on Saturday.

Several netizens living in Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Sengkang, and Hougang also reported a "smoky" or "smoggy" smell on social media.

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NEA launches year-long battle against food wastage

Fabian Koh Straits Times 16 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE - With food waste among the five largest sources of waste in Singapore, the National Environment Agency (NEA) hopes to get people to adopt three habits when eating out so as to combat wastage.

The year-long drive, part of the Year Towards Zero Waste campaign, was launched by Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor at Yishun Park Hawker Centre on Saturday (Feb 16).

It encourages people to order only what they can finish; ask for less rice or noodles if they are unable to eat that much; and say "no" to side dishes they will not consume.

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Malaysia: 15 sheep deaths blamed on tiger

Nur Aqidah Azizi, Abnor Hamizam Abd Manap New Straits Times 16 Feb 19;

JELEBU: Fifteen sheep have been found dead at Kampung Geylang Pertang, here. It believed that they were attacked by a tiger last night.

Pertang state assembly coordinator Azmi Abd Rahman said the incident was reported by the owner, who found the carcasses this morning.

“The owner was shocked to find the sheep were dead when he wanted to feed them this morning at 8am,” he said.

“The sheep were found with their guts ripped out.

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