Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [3 - 9 Dec 2012]
from Green Business Times
hermit crab house swapping @ Ubin - Dec2012
from sgbeachbum
Bidadari (7 December)
from Rojak Librarian
Plant-Bird relationship: 16. Addendum – Plasticaceae
from Bird Ecology Study Group
House Shrew
from Monday Morgue
Straits Times 10 Dec 12;
THE hunt is on to find Singapore's national butterfly.
Members of the public will be asked to vote in a poll next year.
One species in the running is the common rose butterfly, which has white and red colouring reminiscent of the national flag.
The exercise is being led by the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) and students from the National University of Singapore. Students will fan out islandwide or use social media to carry out the poll early next year.
"Having a national butterfly will generate interest in insect conservation, which is often overlooked compared with other well-known symbols for conservation such as pandas or tigers," said Mr Anuj Jain, chairman of the NSS Butterfly Interest Group.
The search for a national butterfly comes alongside a large-scale butterfly project taking shape in the heart of town.
Nature lovers have been hard at work creating an urban butterfly trail among the glitzy malls of Orchard Road. Billed as the first of its kind in the world, the 4km-long trail starts at the gates of the Botanic Gardens, continues down Orchard Road and ends in Fort Canning Park.
Initiated by the NSS, the self-guided walking route will lead people along five different trails that cut through 15 butterfly hotspots. These include tucked-away green oases between the malls, little-known rooftop and private gardens, and public green spaces.
Since the project started in 2010, three of the five walking trails have been completed. Sixty-two butterfly species, including the common rose butterfly and the common birdwing butterfly, are already attracted to the trail.
Singapore is home to about 300 butterfly species but not all can thrive in urban areas. Still, gems such as the rare black veined tiger butterfly and the cruiser butterfly - usually found in forests - have been spotted along the trail.
The project, which will cost an estimated $400,000, is partnered by the National Parks Board and Singapore Tourism Board.
Mr Jain said volunteers from companies and the NSS had agreed to help. Students from nearby schools have also offered to pitch in.
Some 100 students from schools such as Raffles Girls' School (Secondary), the National Institute of Education and Queensway Secondary School have been helping to plant shrubs and bushes that the butterflies need for food, shelter and breeding. The students have also been counting and identifying the species.
The trail passes through two schools - the Singapore Management University and the School of the Arts - and their students have built their own gardens within the campuses. So far, about 15,000 plants have been planted along the trail.
RGS student Cham Zek Min, 15, has helped the NSS to research and identify the butterfly species attracted to different plants.
She said: "We could share what we learnt about the behaviour of the butterflies with primary school children and families through our workshops."
The students have also been conducting workshops in libraries and schools to raise awareness of urban biodiversity once a month since June.
"Few shopping districts in the world can boast of green areas so this project lets the young see for themselves that there can be biodiversity in the city," said Mr Jain.
"Hopefully, this will spur their interest in conservation."
JANICE TAI
For information, go to http://nss.org.sg/project.aspx?id=1
Kalinga Seneviratne IPS 8 Dec 12;
SINGAPORE, Dec 8 2012 (IPS) - With a population of five million crammed on a landmass of just 715 square kilometres, the tiny republic of Singapore has been forced to expand upwards, building high-rise residential complexes to house the country’s many inhabitants.
Now, Singapore is applying the vertical model to urban agriculture, experimenting with rooftop gardens and vertical farms in order to feed its many residents.
Currently only seven percent of Singapore’s food is grown locally. The country imports most of its fresh vegetables and fruits daily from neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as from more distant trading partners like Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Chile.
An influx of immigrants has resulted in a rapid crowding of Singapore’s skyline, as more and more towering apartment buildings shoot up. And meanwhile, what little land was available for farming is disappearing fast.
The solution to the problem came in the form of a public-private partnership, with the launch of what has been hailed as the “world’s first low carbon, water-driven rotating vertical farm” for growing tropical vegetables in an urban environment.
The result of a collaborative agreement between the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and a local firm, Sky Green, this venture aims to popularise urban farming techniques that are also environmentally friendly.
With a robust economy that boasts a gross domestic product of 239.7 billion dollars, Singapore has plenty of money. “But money (is) worthless without food,” according to Sky Green Director Jack Ng.
“That’s why I wanted to use my engineering skills to help Singapore farmers to produce more food,” Ng told IPS.
An engineer by training, Ng created the vertical farming system, which he nicknamed ‘A Go-Grow’. It consists of a series of aluminium towers, some of them up to nine metres high, each containing 38 tiers equipped with troughs for the vegetables.
In keeping with Sky Green’s focus on environmental sustainability, the water used to power the rotating towers is recycled within the system and eventually used to water the vegetables. Each tower consumes only 60 watts of power daily – about the same amount as a single light bulb.
Ng knew that if the system was too expensive or complicated, urban farmers would not be able to survive. And given that he designed the project with retirees and other housebound farmers in mind, he tried to create a situation in which “the plant comes to you, rather than you going to the plant.”
The multi-layered vegetable tower rotates very slowly, taking some eight hours to complete a full circle. As the plant travels to the top it absorbs ample sunlight and when it comes back down it is watered from a tray that is fed by the hydraulic system that drives the rotation of the tower.
This closed cycle system is easy to maintain and doesn’t release any exhaust.
Ng says that such towers, if set up on roofs of the many multi-storey residential blocs that house most of Singapore’s population, could provide livelihoods for retirees and housewives, who would only need to spend a few hours up on the roof to attend to the system.
Sky Green towers currently produce three vegetables popular with locals – nai bai, xiao bai cai and Chinese cabbage, which can be harvested every 28 days.
They already supply NTUC FairPrice, Singapore’s largest grocery retailer that has a network of over 230 outlets and supermarkets. The urban-grown vegetables cost roughly 20 cents more per kilogramme than the imported varieties.
The group’s purchasing manager, Tng Ah Yiam, recently told a Straits Times reporter that these ‘sky farms’ are now able to offer their customers quality, locally-grown vegetables “that are fresher because they travel a shorter distance from farm to shelf”.
Sky Green plans to supply two tonnes a day to NTUC by the middle of next year when they expand their farm towers.
Coordinated efforts
The Sky Green project feeds into a trend that has been underway in Singapore for several decades.
Since the urban expansion of the 1990s Singapore has attempted to respond to the scarcity of land available for traditional cultivation by promoting rooftop vegetable gardens.
A number of local institutions developed hydroponic and aeroponic cultivation systems but none ever took off. “There was always concern over whether or not the rooftops could take the weight of these structures,” Shih Yong Goh, former head of public affairs at AVA, told IPS.
Experts like Lee Sing Kong, director of the National Institute of Education and a long-time advocate of the use of ‘sky farms’, believe there is an urgent need for Singapore to become less dependent on food imports.
Given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, including “natural disasters such as flooding, which could impact food production, it may be necessary for Singapore to look at producing some of its own vegetables from the food security point of view”, he told IPS.
Kong said that he is currently involved in the development of ‘vegetable factories’, whole buildings designed to grow fresh produce.
“We have (begun) developing a 6-tiered aeroponic system to grow vegetables with the help of LED lights,” he said, adding, “this is in the experimental stage. If the model proves to be successful, then the multi-tiered system can be installed within enclosed buildings for producing vegetables. This will certainly enhance the opportunities for urban agriculture.”
Since 2005, the government has shed some of its reservations about rooftop production. The National Parks Board recently converted the rooftop of a multi-storey residential building in the densely populated Upper Serangoon Road into an educational farm to promote urban agriculture among school children.
Meanwhile, Sky Green has signed an MOU with Singapore’s Temasek Polytechnic technical college. Dr. Lee Chee Wee, director of the School of Applied Science, believes that partnering with Sky Green will expose his students to how technology is used in vegetable farming and make “modern farming so much more attractive as a career choice for our graduates”.
Loic Vennin and Olivia Rondonuwu (AFP) Google News 9 Dec 12
PARARAWEN, Indonesia — The roar of chainsaws has replaced birdsong, the once-lush, green jungle scorched to a barren grey. The equivalent of six football pitches of forest is lost every minute in Indonesia.
The disappearance of the trees has pushed thousands of animals -- from the birds they harbour and sustain to orangutans, gibbons and black panthers -- out of their natural homes and habitats.
They have been replaced by plantations that are too nutrient-poor to support such wildlife, instead dedicated solely to producing fruit that is pulped to make oil used globally in products ranging from food to fuel.
A palm oil tree can yield useable fruit in three years and continue doing so for the next 25 years. But such wealth creation has meant environmental destruction.
"We don't see too many orangutans any more", said a worker with a weather-beaten face, taking a break in the shade of a hut built on a path gouged out of the forest floor.
Experts believe there are about 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 80 percent of them in Indonesia's Borneo and the rest in Malaysia. Exact data on their decline is hard to come by, say primatologists.
"What we see now is a contest between orangutans and palm oil for a home," said Sri Suci Utami Atmoko from National University in Jakarta.
"You can judge that the population is depleting from the loss of orangutan habitats."
Gibbons, often recognisable by the rings of white fur that frame their faces, are among the hardest-hit species.
"There are 100,000 gibbons in Borneo. But in 15-20 years, there will be more viable populations," said Aurelien Brule, a French national based in Borneo for 15 years who runs an animal sanctuary.
Gibbons rescued from the destruction of their forest homes cannot be returned alone into new wild habitats. "Other pairs protecting their own territory would kill them," said Brule, adding that rampant deforestation has wiped out sites suitable for single animals.
There is also a human cost, with the permits for plantations resulting in the eviction of indigenous people.
Abdon Nababan, the secretary general of AMAN, an Indonesian indigenous peoples alliance, said there is no exact data but recorded cases of land conflict are in the hundreds, with thousands of people possibly affected.
"Palm oil has brought fortune to Indonesia, but it has been gained with blood," said Jakarta-based forest campaigner for Greenpeace, Wirendro Sumargo.
Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, has exponentially increased the land dedicated to the commodity from 274,000 hectares (680,000 acres) in the 1980s to 7.32 million hectares in 2009, government documents show.
The industry has helped push Indonesia's GDP growth rate above 6.0 percent every year since 2005, but at the cost of huge tracts of rainforest.
An area roughly the size of Denmark was lost between 2000 and 2010 across Indonesia and its neighbour Malaysia, according to a study published last year in the Global Change Biology journal.
Despite some backlash around the world, including an unsuccessful attempt in France to push an amendment to quadruple tax on palm oil to discourage consumption -- the destruction is unlikely to stop any time soon.
Indonesia, which together with Malaysia holds 85 percent of the market, aims to increase production more than 60 percent by 2020.
To appease environmental concerns, it last year imposed a moratorium on new permits in primary forests and peatlands. But critics say it is a cosmetic move, with plantations overlapping sensitive environments.
One example can be found in the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest, in the northwest of Aceh province, home to endangered species such as Sumatran rhinos and tigers.
In this area, "we have evidence that five palm oil firms are doing illegal practices", said Deddy Ratih, forest campaigner for WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia.
Derom Bangun, the chairman of umbrella organisation the Indonesian Palm Oil Board, doesn't deny the issue but says improvements are being made.
"The government has seen (the violations) and has taken steps to fix it. Ultimately we want the palm oil industry to work according to the rules," he added.
In an effort to improve their image, some palm oil firms have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a forum consisted namely of green groups and growers.
The WWF, one of the founders of RSPO, admitted that there is still a conservation shortfall.
"Generally land allocation for plantations still overlaps with primary forests and peatlands, including in areas that are the habitat of key species," said Irwan Gunawan, WWF deputy director of market transformation in Indonesia.
"We are encouraging the government to pay attention to this," he added.
Jakarta Globe 8 Dec 12;
Jambi/Bandung/Yogyakarta/Samarinda. Torrential rains over the last several days caused heavy flooding in many areas across the country on Friday, but as of that evening there were no reports of fatalities.
In Jambi, water from the overflowing Batang Hari River nearly paralyzed the entire city on Friday, with floodwater reaching up to two meters in depth in some areas.
Rafts and canoes were being used as a mode of transport.
The floods hit all three subdistricts in the city, residents said, adding however, that the fact that most houses are built on stilts spared many from serious damage.
Despite the extent and depth of the floods, there were no reports of people evacuating for drier ground.
Many residents also said they were reluctant to leave their homes empty for security reasons.
Junaidi Yusak, the head of the Legok urban ward in the Telanaipura subdistrict of Jambi, said the 264 houses in his area have been completely isolated. He said some 1,370 people were affected in his ward.
He also said that residents had anticipated the floods, setting up a flood coordination center and devising evacuation plans in case of emergency. They also prepared canoes and rafts.
“We have been continuously monitoring the water and based on our observations the floods continue to rise in height by some five centimeters every day. We also continuously inform residents so that they can prepare themselves well if they have to evacuate,” Junaidi said.
An observation of the Batang Hari River water level showed that by Friday it was only about 17 centimeters away from the 13.37-meter critical level that would necessitate the evacuation of the some 3,000 residents in the three flooded subdistricts.
In Bandung district, West Java, water overflowed from the Citarum River, flooding several areas and roads in Baleendah subdistrict, blocking people from traveling to and from surrounding areas.
Hundreds of houses and buildings were still inundated as of Friday morning.
In Paser district, East Kalimantan, residents in some neighborhoods climbed onto the roofs of their houses to avoid floodwater while others fled to higher land and buildings.
Several residents blamed bad sewage systems and the habit of throwing garbage to rivers and water channels, blocking water flow and causing it to overflow in their areas.
“The related agency must quickly clean them because the rainy season will worsen the situation,” said Andi, a local resident.
In Yogyakarta, as of Friday morning dozens of houses in Umbulharjo were also still flooded by water coming up from a nearby river which has been filled with garbage.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said on Tuesday that rain-related disasters were expected to continue until January. He said the areas particularly vulnerable are those straddling the Bengawan Solo River in Central and East Java, as well as villages at the foot of Mount Merapi in Central Java and Yogyakarta. They are at risk of landslides from the millions of tons of ash deposits still sitting on the volcano’s slopes following its eruption in 2010.
Sutopo said mudslides and floods across the country in the past two months have killed at least 33 people and forced 35,000 to flee their homes, warning that these figures could rise as the rainy season intensifies.
Giving back to nature
from mndsingapore by Minister Khaw Boon Wan
Wild boars, hornbill and an unusual gathering of fiddler crabs at Chek Jawa
from Peiyan.Photography
brown shrike @ labrador nature reserve - Dec 2012
from sgbeachbum
Indian Cuckoo feasting on caterpillars
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Life History of the Orange Tailed Awl
from Butterflies of Singapore
Endangered Species of the Week: Asian elephant
from ARKive blog
Thumbs up given after feasibility study; centre will boost Singapore's biomedical capabilities
Chang Ai-lien Straits Times 9 Dec 12;
A national facility to provide large animals such as monkeys and pigs to research groups has been given the thumbs up, following an extensive feasibility study.
Researchers say the move will help speed up the development of new drugs and treatments, and take Singapore's biomedical capabilities up a notch.
Such a facility will enhance Singapore's overall capability in translating discoveries to the clinic, said Professor Wong Tien Yin, group director of research at SingHealth.
"It will increase our strength in pre-clinical research such as drug discovery, drug development, testing of biomarkers and medical technology, prior to first-in-man studies," said Prof Wong, who is also executive director of the Singapore Eye Research Institute.
Large animals are needed for such work because a compound that looks like a successful drug in the petri-dish or on a mouse might not work as well in larger creatures and humans, said scientists.
Before clinical trials on people, research on vaccines and diseases including glaucoma, myopia and HIV infection is carried out on monkeys such as macaques, which are genetically similar to humans.
In Singapore, the primates are being used in research projects on myopia, for instance, and to reverse age-related far-sightedness.
Pigs, with their physiology and anatomy relatively similar to humans, are used to test new drugs and medical devices such as artificial knee joints and dental implants, and for surgical training.
Details of the national large animal research facility are still being worked out, said the Ministry of Health. But according to earlier reports, up to $10 million, for a start, could be set aside to set up the facility for academic and commercial research.
According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), there are 28 licensed facilities for animal research. They include those at the National University of Singapore, SingHealth and the Biopolis research hub in Buona Vista.
Generally, rats, mice and fish are used in experiments, although rabbits, dogs, pigs and monkeys are also used in some. Most are euthanised at the end of a trial.
Any research facility that uses animals for scientific purposes must obtain a licence from the AVA, which inspects each facility annually, said an AVA spokesman.
Research using animals has long been condemned by animal welfare groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
But scientists say that while they continue to develop alternatives to animal testing, in many cases it is still impossible for a computer or test tube to substitute a complex biological system when studying a disease, vaccine or drug for efficacy and side effects.
"Monkeys are more similar to us than mice, and pigs are closer in size," said one scientist, who declined to be named. "Sometimes, it's a necessary evil and there's no way around it."
To make sure animals are treated in an ethical manner, a research facility must comply with guidelines of the National Advisory Committee for Laboratory Animal Research for the proper care and use of animals for scientific purposes.
Its guidelines are aligned with international standards for laboratory animal welfare, said the AVA.
Claire Huang Channel NewsAsia 8 Dec 12;
SINGAPORE: The National Parks Board (NParks) has seen a 33 per cent increase in the number of active volunteers this year, compared to 2011.
Over 800 volunteers now serve on a regular basis and they range from as young as nine years old to over 80. Thirty nine of them have served for more than 10 years.
The volunteers are involved in activities such as leading tours, running programmes and helping out with surveys.
A 15-year-old volunteer, Choo Yi Feng, said: "I get to share what I know about sea shore life and at the same time, I'm also very interested in sea shore life myself. It does good for me, it does good for the people I'm guiding and it also does good for the environment."
65-year-old retiree Katherine Oehlers said: "I get to interact with people from all walks of life and I also get to interact with tourists from all over the world and that has enriched my life."
NParks on Saturday honoured its volunteers as part of celebrations for International Volunteer Day, which fell on 5 December, at HortPark.
Dr Leong Chee Chiew, deputy chief executive officer of National Parks Board and Commissioner of Parks and Recreation said: "By making planned programmes like guided walks and talks available to people from all walks of life, our volunteers' efforts have made it possible for everyone to learn more about biodiversity and enjoy nature.
"Thanks to their commitment to various volunteer programmes, they have made it possible for all of us to enjoy a dose of nature as we go about our daily lives.
"Our City in a Garden provides Singaporeans with a high quality of life because of our volunteers."
- CNA/ck/xq
Hats off to park volunteers
Jessica Lim Straits Times 9 Dec 12;
They tag birds, plant herb specimens and, on occasion, even guide the President around green spaces in Singapore - and they're not paid a cent.
But no one's complaining.
In fact, more people are stepping forward to help out at public parks, with the number of volunteers growing by a third from last year.
There are more than 800 people giving up their time to fulfil the vital roles, according to the National Parks Board (NParks) which manages over 300 parks.
The agency celebrated its inaugural Volunteers Appreciation Day yesterday.
Volunteering in Singapore's parklands began in the early 1990s when a group of 50 helped to tag birds in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.
Enthusiasts - ranging in age from nine to 84 - help out as guides, conduct public workshops and assist with biodiversity surveys.
Present at yesterday's Appreciation Day was 15-year-old Choo Yi Feng, who has been a guide at the Chek Jawa wetlands on Pulau Ubin since 2008. The Secondary 3 Dunman High School student told how his love for sea animals was sparked by a visit to Underwater World in 2000. He fell in love with Chek Jawa on a visit in 2005 and was invited to volunteer at the 100-hectare wetlands in 2008.
"I saw a lot of animals I didn't recognise. Some had many legs, feelers, soft bodies. You couldn't find a face or an eye," he said. "I wanted to know more."
He conducts tours for groups of 15 people - and last year he even guided President Tony Tan Keng Yam around the area.
Retired teacher Katherine Oehlers, 65, started leading tours of the Singapore Botanic Gardens five years ago.
"I go to the Botanic Gardens every Saturday for breakfast with my husband. After that, my husband walks the dog and I walk the people," she said.
Volunteers have allowed NParks to accomplish more than it could by itself, said its deputy chief executive officer Leong Chee Chiew. "Our volunteers' efforts have made it possible for everyone to learn more about biodiversity and enjoy nature."
Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan yesterday handed out awards to those who have volunteered for more than 10 years.
In a blog he urged others to give up time to help out in the "vital" roles.
More people volunteering at National Parks
Jessica Lim Straits Times 9 Dec 12;
The number of volunteers who help out regularly at parks this year has swelled to 800 or 33 per cent more than last year.
In the 1990s, there was just 50.
The National Parks Board, which manages more than 300 parks here, revealed these figures at its inaugural Volunteers Appreciation Day today.
These volunteers - from as young as nine to 80-years-old - help out with activities including gardening, as well conducting guided walks and marine biodiversity surveys.
Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan, who handed out awards to those who have volunteered for more than 10 years, called such roles "vital", in a blog about the event posted later in the day.
"Kudos to all our volunteers!" he said, thanking them for their commitment and dedication. "We welcome more to come and join us in this endeavour to make Singapore a City in a Garden."
Related link
Giving back to nature on Minister Khaw's blog
Roger Harrabin BBC News 8 Dec 12;
UN climate talks in Doha have closed with a historic shift in principle but few genuine cuts in greenhouse gases.
The summit established for the first time that rich nations should move towards compensating poor nations for losses due to climate change.
Developing nations hailed it as a breakthrough, but condemned the gulf between the science of climate change and political attempts to tackle it.
The deal, agreed by nearly 200 nations, extends to 2020 the Kyoto Protocol.
It is the only legally-binding plan for combating global warming.
The deal covers Europe and Australia, whose share of world greenhouse gas emissions is less than 15%.
But the conference also cleared the way for the Kyoto protocol to be replaced by a new treaty binding all rich and poor nations together by 2015 to tackle climate change.
The final text "encourages" rich nations to mobilise at least $10bn (£6bn) a year up to 2020, when the new global climate agreement is due to kick in.
Final turmoil
There was last-minute drama as the talks were thrown into turmoil by the insistence of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus that they should be allowed extra credit for the emissions cuts they made when their industries collapsed.
After a long delay, the chairman lost patience, re-started the meeting and gavelled through the agenda so fast there was no chance for Russia to object.
A cheer exploded into prolonged applause. Russia bitterly objected at what it said was a clear breach of procedure, but the chairman said he would do no more than reflect the Russian view in the final report.
The big players, the US, EU and China accepted the agreement with varying degrees of reservation. But the representative for the small island states at severe risk from climate change was vociferous.
"We see the package before us as deeply deficient in mitigation (carbon cuts) and finance. It's likely to lock us on the trajectory to a 3,4,5C rise in global temperatures, even though we agreed to keep the global average temperature rise of 1.5C to ensure survival of all islands," he said.
"There is no new finance (for adapting to climate change and getting clean energy) - only promises that something might materialise in the future. Those who are obstructive need to talk not about how their people will live, but whether our people will live."
The island states accepted the agreement because for them it is better than nothing. Other diplomats will point to the immense complexity of the UN process, which is attempting to move away from the old Kyoto Protocol into a new phase binding rich and poor nations together in the task of tackling climate change.
The proposed new Loss and Damage mechanism is held up as an example of the success of the diplomatic process.
Until now rich nations have agreed finance to help developing countries to get clean energy and adapt to climate change, but they have stopped short of accepting responsibility for damage caused by climate change elsewhere.
But in Doha that broad principle was agreed.
"It is a breakthrough," said Martin Khor of the South Centre - an association of 52 developing nations. "The term Loss and Damage is in the text - this is a huge step in principle. Next comes the fight for cash.
"What helped swing it was [US President Barack] Obama asking Congress for $60bn for the damage caused by [Hurricane] Sandy," he said.
Saleem ul-Huq, from the think-tank IIED in Bangladesh, told me the text should have been firmer, but he said: "This is a watershed in the talks. There is no turning back from this."
Nick Mabey, from the UK think-tank E3G, said: "This agreement really opens a can of worms - it might be applied to countries damming transboundary rivers, for instance. It could be very significant in future."
No US veto
The US had been adamant that this measure would be blocked, and the EU nearly vetoed it, too.
Todd Stern, the US head of delegation here, was seen for much of the past few days walking in circles near the tea bar on his mobile phone to Washington. He told me: "We don't like this text, but we can live with it."
Andy Atkins, from Friends of the Earth, says the current agreement is an 'empty deal'
The key to US agreement was the positioning of the Loss and Damage mechanism under an existing process promising to mobilise $100bn a year for poor nations to adapt to climate change.
Facing tough budget decisions at home over the "fiscal cliff" it was essential for the US to avoid the impression that it was giving away more cash at this time.
The UK Climate Secretary, Ed Davey, told me: "We haven't agreed to set up a new institution - and there's no blank cheque. But there is clearly an issue if, say, an island state is lost underwater."
Ronny Jumea, from the Seychelles, told rich nations earlier that discussion of compensation would not have been needed if they had cut emissions earlier.
"We're past the mitigation [emissions cuts] and adaptation eras. We're now right into the era of loss and damage. What's next after that? Destruction?" he said.
The US has been blamed on finance and on failure to cut its emissions more aggressively.
The EU has also been under fire for failing to raise its promised cuts from 20%, which it is reaching easily, to 30%. (Scientists say it should be 40%.)
The EU has been held back by Poland, which insists on its right to burn its huge reserves of coal.
'Crushing Russian revolt'
Warsaw was refusing to sign the extension to the Kyoto climate protocol until it had a reassurance from the EU that it would receive flexible treatment on emissions cuts.
Russia, Belarus and Ukraine then further delayed the endgame of the conference with an argument over so-called "hot air" - the pollution permits they were given to allow their heavy industries to thrive.
Those industries collapsed but Poland and Russia insist that - as they suffered economic pain during the collapse - they should be allowed to use up the pollution permits as their economies grow again.
In effect, they want to be able to increase their emissions as other nations are obliged to cut theirs.
The nature of the Russian objection was unclear, but an EU negotiator told me he believed the Russians were making a point of principle and did not expect further action.
The major task of this two-week conference has been untangling of the diplomatic spaghetti from climate agreements that have grown piecemeal over the past 15 years.
It is widely agreed that a useful house-keeping job was done to help the UN move towards the next phase, which aims at a globally-encompassing agreement.
Preliminary discussions were held on this, and it was quickly evident that making a global agreement fair to all parties will be monumentally difficult.
The talks were chaired by Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, a former head of the oil cartel Opec.
He was widely criticised for his laid-back style earlier in the week but at the last there was the unlikely spectacle of environmentalists cheering the ruthlessness of the chair in crushing the Russian revolt.
Climate change diplomacy makes strange bedfellows.
UN conference adopts extension of Kyoto accord
Karl Ritter and Michael Casey Associated Press Yahoo News 9 Dec 12;
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Seeking to control global warming, nearly 200 countries agreed Saturday to extend the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that limits the greenhouse gas output of some rich countries, but will only cover about 15 percent of global emissions.
The extension was adopted by a U.N. climate conference after hard-fought sessions and despite objections from Russia. The package of decisions also included vague promises of financing to help poor countries cope with climate change, and an affirmation of a previous decision to adopt a new global climate pact by 2015.
Though expectations were low for the two-week conference in Doha, many developing countries rejected the deal as insufficient to put the world on track to fight the rising temperatures that are shifting weather patterns, melting glaciers and raising sea levels. Some Pacific island nations see this as a threat to their existence.
"This is not where we wanted to be at the end of the meeting, I assure you," said Nauru Foreign Minister Kieren Keke, who leads an alliance of small island states. "It certainly isn't where we need to be in order to prevent islands from going under and other unimaginable impacts."
The two-decade-old U.N. climate talks have so-far failed in their goal of reducing the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions that a vast majority of scientists says are warming the planet.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which controls the emissions of rich countries, is considered the main achievement of the negotiations, even though the U.S. rejected it because it didn't impose any binding commitments on China and other emerging economies.
Kyoto was due to expire this year, so failing to agree on an extension would have been a major setback for the talks. Despite objections from Russia, which opposed rules limiting its use of carbon credits, the accord was extended through 2020 to fill the gap until a wider global treaty is expected to take effect.
However, the second phase only covers about 15 percent of global emissions after Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Russia opted out.
The decisions in Doha mean that in future years, the talks can focus on the new treaty, which is supposed to apply to both rich and poor countries. It is expected to be adopted in 2015 and take effect five years later, but the details haven't been worked out yet.
U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern highlighted one of the main challenges going forward when he said the U.S. couldn't accept a provision in the Doha deal that said the talks should be "guided" by principles laid down in the U.N.'s framework convention for climate change.
That could be interpreted as a reference to the firewall between rich and poor countries that has guided the talks so far, but which the U.S. and other developed countries say must be removed going forward.
"We are now on our way to the new regime," European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said. It definitely wasn't an easy ride, but we managed to cross the bridge."
"Hopefully from here we can increase our speed," she added. "The world needs it more than ever."
The goal of the U.N. talks is to keep temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 Celsius), compared to preindustrial times. Temperatures have already risen about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 Celsius) above that level, according to the latest report by the U.N.'s top climate body.
A recent projection by the World Bank showed temperatures are on track to rise by up to 7.2 Fahrenheit (4 Celsius) by the year 2100.
"For all of the nations wrestling with the new reality of climate change - which includes the United States - this meeting failed to deliver the goods," said Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"At the end of the day, ministers were left with two unpalatable choices: accept an abysmally weak deal, or see the talks collapse in acrimony and despair — with no clear path forward," Meyer said.
Poor countries came into the talks in Doha demanding a timetable on how rich countries would scale up climate change aid for them to $100 billion annually by 2020 — a general pledge that was made three years ago.
But rich nations, including the United States, members of the European Union and Japan are still grappling with the effects of a financial crisis and were not interested in detailed talks on aid in Doha.
The agreement on financing made no reference to any mid-term financing targets, just a general pledge to "identify pathways for mobilizing the scaling up of climate finance."
Tim Gore, climate policy adviser at British aid group Oxfam said the Doha deal imperiled the lives and livelihoods of the world's poorest communities, who are the most vulnerable to shifts in climate.
"It's nothing short of betrayal of the responsibilities of developed countries," he said. "We are now in the red zone in fighting climate change."
Small island nations scored a victory by getting the conference to adopt a text on "loss and damage," a relatively new concept which relates to damages from climate-related disasters.
Island nations under threat from rising sea levels have been pushing for some mechanism to help them cope with such natural catastrophes, but the United States has pushed back over concerns it might be held liable for the cleanup bill since it is the world's second-biggest emitter behind China.
A sparrowhawk’s kill
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Elysian field
from The annotated budak
Our (Green) Singapore Conversation
from AsiaIsGreen
Imelda Saad Channel NewsAsia 7 Dec 12;
SINGAPORE: Animals rights group ACRES has issued a final ultimatum to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to release its 24 captive dolphins.
Otherwise, ACRES (The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society) said it will launch a full-fledged boycott against not just RWS, but all Genting properties.
The dolphins, which were flown in from the Philippines, are now under quarantine before being displayed as part of the resort's new Marine Life Park.
ACRES told Channel NewsAsia that it took pictures of the dolphins in quarantine on Thursday at 5pm.
In a statement, it said the dolphins are housed in "appalling conditions; in tiny barren swimming pools".
It added surrounding the dolphins within four walls compromises their welfare.
ACRES quoted a report by The Humane Society of the United States and the World Society for the Protection of Animals, which states that "Smooth concrete walls usually surround these sound-sensitive animals and inhibit or discourage the natural use of their acoustic abilities".
The group has asked RWS to work with it and environmental group, the Earth Island Institute, to rehabilitate and release the dolphins back into the wild.
Animal rights groups in both the Singapore and Philippines have been lobbying for the release of the dolphins since they were captured in the waters of the Solomon Islands.
Mr Louis Ng, Chief Executive of ACRES, said: "We have tried our very best to establish a dialogue with RWS, but they have ignored our calls for meetings and turned a deaf ear to our concerns. RWS continues with their plans to confine the dolphins, despite the deaths of three dolphins under their care and scientific studies confirming that the trade in these dolphins was unsustainable and pushed this species one step closer towards extinction in the Solomon Islands.
"ACRES appeals to RWS to review the facts provided to them and reconsider their decision. We hope that we won't need to launch a boycott, but we are ready to do so if needed and we are confident that members of the public will support this."
Twenty-seven dolphins were captured from the Solomon Islands between 2008 and 2009, and sent to Malaysia and the Philippines for training while the Marine Life Park was under construction.
One of the dolphins died en route to Singapore last month, while two others died in 2010 in Malaysia from bacterial infections.
Singapore's Marine Life Park has said that its acquisition of the Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins followed international requirements.
- CNA/de
RWS' top man defends dolphin plan
Straits Times 8 Dec 12;
RESORTS World Sentosa's (RWS) head honcho defended its decision to have dolphins at its marine park, by emphasising that the species is not endangered and that the company was fulfilling the terms of its proposal.
Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Genting Group, RWS' parent company, said at a press conference yesterday that if the bottlenose dolphins were endangered, the Government would not have allowed them to be imported. "What we are doing here is part of our proposal, which the Singapore Government will expect us to fulfil," he said. "We are continuing with our commitment to deliver the best oceanarium in the world. We want it to be enjoyed by everyone."
He added that the importation of dolphins was strictly within the law.
RWS' plans to have dolphins at its recently opened Marine Life Park have been dogged by controversy. Animal rights groups such as Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had called for RWS to abort its plans for the dolphins as early as 2009.
The calls grew louder in 2010, when two dolphins died at a holding area in Langkawi in Malaysia, and last month, when one of the 25 dolphins died on its way to Singapore.
RWS chief executive Tan Hee Teck yesterday reiterated that the welfare of all the animals in the resort is important, and it will continue its work on conservation and educating the public on the issue.
Yesterday, Acres issued RWS an ultimatum, saying it would boycott all of Genting Group's properties if it does not rehabilitate the remaining 24 dolphins and return them to the wild.
"We hope that we won't need to launch a boycott, but we are ready to do so if needed and we are confident that members of the public will support this," said Mr Louis Ng, Acres' chief executive.
He added that the group also highlighted to RWS yesterday that the 12-minute fireworks display to mark the grand opening might "compromise the dolphins' welfare" as they are sensitive to sounds.
He cited an incident in Switzerland, where a dolphin was found dead after a techno event was held near the aquarium it was housed in.
NG KAI LING
Dolphins housed in unsuitable conditions: Animal rights group
AsiaOne 7 Dec 12;
SINGAPORE - Animal welfare group ACRES said in a media statement that the dolphins purchased by Resorts World Sentosa are housed in unsuitable conditions.
They also said that a 12-minute fireworks display scheduled for Friday night may compromise the dolphins' welfare, as the close proximity and loud noises may disorientate and distress them.
Below is the full statement from ACRES:
ACRES yesterday viewed the wild-caught dolphins purchased by Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). We regret that the dolphins are being housed in in appalling conditions; in tiny barren swimming pools.
Surrounding the dolphins with four walls compromises their welfare. A report by The Humane Society of the United States and the World Society for the Protection of Animals states that "Smooth concrete walls usually surround these sound-sensitive animals and inhibit or discourage the natural use of their acoustic abilities".
ACRES is issuing a final ultimatum to RWS: work with ACRES and Earth Island Institute to rehabilitate and release the dolphins back into the wild or ACRES will launch a full-fledged boycott against not just Resorts World, but all Genting properties from next month onwards.
"We have tried our very best to establish a dialogue with RWS, but they have ignored our calls for meetings and turned a deaf ear to our concerns. RWS continues with their plans to confine the dolphins, despite the deaths of three dolphins under their care and scientific studies confirming that the trade in these dolphins was unsustainable and pushed this species one step closer towards extinction in the Solomon Islands.
"ACRES appeals to RWS to review the facts provided to them and reconsider their decision. We hope that we won't need to launch a boycott, but we are ready to do so if needed and we are confident that members of the public will support this," said Mr Louis Ng, Chief Executive of ACRES.
ACRES also contacted RWS today to highlight that the 12-minute fireworks display scheduled for tonight may compromise the dolphins' welfare, as the close proximity and loud noises may disorientate and distress them. A similar incident occurred in Switzerland where Shadow - an eight-year-old dolphin - was found dead after a huge techno event was held near the aquarium he was housed in.
Bottlenose dolphins 'not endangered': Genting Group chairman
Animal welfare group says fireworks at opening ceremony could distress RWS dolphins
Today Online 7 Dec 12;
SINGAPORE - It was a question he said he had hoped to avoid. But with controversy swirling continuing over Resorts World Sentosa's import of wild-caught dolphins for its Marine Life Park, Genting Group chairman Lim Kok Thay commented on the issue today following a question from an Indonesian journalist.
"I cannot emphasise enough that the dolphins we're talking about are definitely not on the endangered list," he said, citing how some have perceived otherwise.
The Singapore Government allowed their import, and the Marine Life Park concept was "planned a long time ago" and part of the company's proposal when bidding for the integrated resort, Mr Lim said.
His comments at the press conference ahead of RWS' grand opening tonight, came as conservationists continued their call for the 24 bottlenose dolphins to be rehabilitated back into the wild.
The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) also conveyed to RWS that the noise from fireworks planned for last evening's ceremony could disorientate and distress the dolphins. Last year, a dolphin in a Swiss aquarium died after a rave event was held nearby, said Acres' chief executive Louis Ng.
Acres also said it had viewed the dolphins' enclosures and regretted their "tiny barren swimming pools". The pools' smooth concrete walls inhibit the natural use of the dolphins' acoustic abilities, according to The Humane Society of the United States and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
Mr Ng said it would boycott RWS and all Genting properties from next month if the dolphins were not released.
The controversy erupted after the capture of 27 dolphins off the Solomon Islands for RWS, which conservationists say pushes the species closer towards extinction in the area. Three of them have died.
Genting's Mr Lim said the dolphins are part of RWS' commitment to deliver the "best oceanarium in the world" to be enjoyed by all visitors. "Especially in this city, not everyone is fortunate enough to take a trip outside into the wild or to learn scuba diving… we are opening up an opportunity for people to enjoy this same thing a lot easier," he said.
"This opens up curiosity as to what else is out there in that environment and I'm sure they'll try to then go out and look at the real ocean itself," he said. "Maybe that's how the tourism industry works - you need to get the public to be interested in what you're doing, then they will travel more. I think having seen it here in Singapore, it doesn't stop at that."
RWS chief executive Tan Hee Teck said it respects "divergent views" on the issue and that "the welfare of all the animals is of utmost importance to us". The oceanarium - the world's largest with 100,000 fishes from 800 species - has garnered "good response" and its educational and conservation centre can educate children and the public about marine life and marine biology, he said. NEO CHAI CHIN
RWS forecasts 17 million visitors for 2013
Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 7 Dec 12;
SINGAPORE : Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has said it is expecting 17 million visitors for 2013 and plans to have more rooms to house guests.
It is looking at building more hotels away from the integrated resort to cater to cost-conscious travellers.
The first one, sited near the Jurong East train station, is targeted for completion by end-2014.
The plan is to offer four-star accommodation with some 500 rooms.
Visitors to RWS will soon see new attractions like a theme park ride based on the children's show "Sesame Street". The integrated resort is also introducing a new resident show at its Festive Grand theatre in 2013.
RWS has welcomed 45 million guests since its opening in 2010.
Genting Group, which owns the integrated resort, wants to lure potential visitors who may not wish to stay at its more expensive hotels.
Hence, the strategy is to site accommodation further away, not on prime land, to capture the market of travellers who prefer cheaper rooms.
While the novelty factor for Singaporeans is tapering off, RWS expects gaming revenue from foreigners to increase, though at a slower pace.
RWS said its strength lies in its ability to offer family-themed entertainment, apart from the casino. And Asia will remain its core market, with efforts to attract tourists geared towards the region.
Tan Hee Teck, chief executive of Resorts World Sentosa, said: "We have one great end-destination where someone can come here and spend three days, fully-occupied. I think there is no other destination, no other product that can compare with what we have."
RWS has 16 million visitors to date for 2012.
Its recently-opened Marine Life Park is expected to pull in an extra one million visitors to Sentosa the next year.
The park has attracted controversy for its import of dolphins.
Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Genting Group and Resorts World Sentosa, said: "These are not an endangered species, so it is really no different from, if you want to put it, the panda bears.
"So what is important here is that every care must be taken, and we are doing our best in that regards."
RWS has generated over 13,000 jobs. Seven in 10 staff are Singaporeans.
The integrated resort estimates it will re-coup its costs in three years or so.
- CNA/ck/ms
B.K. Sidhu The Star 8 Dec 12;
TAN Sri Lim Kang Hoo was beaming with excitement to show off his grand plan for the makeover of Johor Baru when StarBizWeek met him for an interview recently.
He had just got the plans approved for the makeover of the central business district (CBD) and the eastern side of the tip of Johor Baru (JB). The makeover of the CDB will change the face of several streets such as Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Segget, Jalan Ibrahim, and Jalan Meldrum which now house buildings that have been abandoned for a long time.
In his opinion, and that of others, JB has not recovered from the property glut after the 1997 Asian economic crisis.
On the eastern side or the Tebrau coast, he wants to create a lifestyle haven similar to that of the Gold Coast in Australia. He is hoping to attract expatriates who are going to work at the oil and gas hub that is taking shape in Pengerang to reside at the Tebrau coast.
Combined with the Danga Bay development which is located at the western side of the southern tip of JB, he has over 1,619ha that will be developed into an waterfront city fronting Singapore over several years.
The land is parked under Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH), which is the master developer of parts of JB city. He owns 60% of IWH via Credence Resources Sdn Bhd and his partner in this venture is the Johore state government via Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ), which holds the remaining 40% stake in IWH. Both EPF and Khazanah Nasional Bhd has indirect stake in IWH held via Iskandar Investments Bhd.
IWH's over 1619ha forms part of Iskandar Malaysia's 221,707ha and Iskandar is being built into a metropolis of the south. With the developments taking shape in Iskandar from theme parks to an edu-city and a water front city, investors are trickling in.
Singapore has shown its willingness to participate in the development but there is a need to really change the CBD into a more vibrant city to attract more investors from across the causeway and other countries. The other developer of plots of land in Iskandar Malaysia is Khazanah.
“Fifteen years ago no one wanted to lend me a dollar and people used to a laugh at me when I showed the concept of creating JB into a waterfront city like Hong Kong-Shenzhen. They thought I was crazy. But now, they are same ones telling me that JB is going to be another Hong Kong-Shenzhen and I am not even talking,” he tells StarBizWeek in an interview.
This week he sealed his biggest deal yet. He sold 55 acres to one of China's biggest property developers, Country Garden Holdings Ltd, for nearly RM1bil and he says a lot more deals are in the pipeline including selling of an island made of reclaimed to an influential Singapore company. And all of IWH's land is sold on a joint venture basis except the 55 acres to Country Garden.
CBD the heritage city
Abandoned and half closed shops are a common sight at the CBD and it has become an eyesore. Some are also infested by the squatters. Some owners of the buildings and shops have migrated and to track them down has been a big challenge for Lim. He managed to trace and has bought some 50 plots in various locations, the latest being a plot of 133ha at Jalan Wong Ah Fook from an old man who had migrated and was the seventh generation owner.
This is part of the makeover process and is necessary if JB is to be turned into a waterfront city.
“You cannot be attracting investors to JB and still have squatters in the city. We need a vibrant city that has all the ingredients of a modern and world class city to be able to attract the investors,” he says, adding that when he buys over a plot that has squatters, he has to compensate and relocate them.
“We want to beautify the city, clean up the sea bed and sewerage, improve the landscape and traffic flow. There will also be a city tram and this new CDB will be themed as a heritage city,” he says. The makeover of the city is the state government's project and IWH has mandated to see it through.
The city will be divided up into sections where there will be food and beverage areas, China town, Little India, a Malay street, and night-life attractions.
“We are doing all this for the people in the state and that will create economic activity and at the same time we want to attract some of the Johoreans who have migrated to return and participate in the economic activity in their state.
“We will also put up a city college, a medical related college, service apartments, budget hotels, convert old heritage buildings into boutique hotels and also do up the streets. Jalan Wong Ah Fook will be turned into a pedestrian street and phase one which includes the redevelopment of Jalan Wong Ah Fook should be ready by mid- or end-2014,” he says.
Work on beautification will begin in the first quarter of 2013 and the Johor state government will dish out tenders for the beautification of the CBD. It will also get involved in the cleaning and reclaiming of Sungai Segget, right now has the indignation of being labelled one of the smelliest rivers.
To develop the area into a CBD, he says options will be given to the existing land and shop owners to follow designs that have been approved and keep their shops open.
“We can work out joint ventures with them or they can sell it to us or develop themselves. Our approach is very friendly. What we want is to create economic activity and attract tourists and Malaysians into JB,” he adds.
For the beautification of the CBD the state government will invest RM200mil and an additional RM200mil will be invested by the Federal Government for the cleaning of Sungai Segget and putting up a new sewerage treatment plant.
The east-west side
The next thing on his plate after developing certain plots of land in Danga Bay is the Tebrau Coast. Danga Bay will be developed into a premier waterfront destination with features such as a cruise ship terminal, marina, fisherman's wharf and tower blocks to house commercial offices, hotels, exhibition and convention centres, and residential properties.
“We were asked to do a master plan for the eastern corridor and now we have obtained the approvals. It is only right to now tackle the east side after we have developed some parts of the west side (Danga Bay) and are also going to begin works on the CBD,” he says.
Tebrau Coast will replicate the Gold Coast model where there will be high rise buildings comprising apartments, hotels, commercial buildings and also retail outlets.
“We will be working with the Australian Walker Group on this over a 81ha site. The lifestyle product in Gold Coast is selling like hot cakes and we want the same concept here.
“We also have a joint venture with DiJaya Corp to develop the land over 81ha there,” he adds. All these developments will be built over 15 years.
There are several rivers in the Tebrau Coast that will need to be cleaned and land reclaimed. They include Sungai Plentong, Sungai Lunchoo, Sungai Reko and Sungai Tebrau.
Lim is known to have the expertise to reclaim land and as a result of that he has managed to grow the landbank of IWH to over 1619ha. But that acerage also includes the land that IWH has got after taking control of Tebrau Teguh Bhd.
With him buying more plots of land and with the reclamation work underway, it will be no surprise if IWH's acerage increases to over 2023ha.
“Half of our land in Danga Bay has been reclaimed. It used to be a swamp area and that is why the cost is high. We have reclaimed 324ha of land. We have a proven track record of reclaiming land and now we are going to do the same at the Tebrau coast. We are starting all over again,” he says.
Of the 1619ha, half of it is at Danga Bay. The Tebrau coast comprise 405ha of which 162ha has been sold thus far.
Some of the ongoing projects at the 1619ha owned by IWH include the RM500mil Azea Residences by a Singapore group, the RM105mil Plazzo Hotel & Serviced Suites by Waz Lian Group, RM20mil Tune Hotel project, Dijaya Corp Bhd is investing to build a high-end mixed development project that will have a gross development value (GDV) of about RM5bil. Burnsfield is building retail and commercial buildings that will have a GDV of about RM4bil. The Country Garden project will have a GDV of RM18bil.
Avoiding the glut
The deal with Country Garden took four months to conclude but some others are taking their time because some companies have longer evaluation and approval process than others. He is in talks with several parties, some of them are GLCs and that requires government approval.
But what he is excited about is the sale of a man-made island in the east side to a Singapore party. There are other investors from Singapore who are interested in the fisherman's wharf, which is one of the 10 projects in Danga Bay.
“They (the influential Singapore party) are haggling for a lower price,” he says.
But there are other Singapore parties looking at different parcels and even Country Gardens wants to buy more land in Danga Bay.
“The Indonesians are looking to buy some land to create lifestyle projects,” he adds.
While he wants a variety of investors, he is also vary that if they cannot sell their high rise commercial buildings, apartments or commercial units, it would create another glut and that is something he wants to avoid.
Having learnt the experience of the 1997 crisis, he says land will only be sold in stages so that there are takers for whatever is being developed. “We have to ensure each developer has product differentiation so that demand for their products will always be there and this prevents a glut,” he says.
When he started out, Lim bought land for RM1.50 psf to RM3 psf. Now the same land is being sold at RM300 psf to RM500 psf depending on location. He can't say how much more the land will appreciate given the total development at Iskandar Malaysia, which comprise of over 221,707ha.
“I can't say how much more it will go up or what is the valuations are now because we have not valued the land but we have commissioned someone to do it recently,” he says.
He adds that “for now we are still selling at early bird prices but eventually we would have to tender the land and sell it to the highest bidder.”
“What we are creating is an international waterfront city. The buildings will all be high rise as just to clean up the rivers and reclaim the land we have to buy sand from Pengerang and that costs us a lot of money, hence our land is expansive.
“There is no way we can do landed property or terrace houses on such a land because the cost will be too expensive and nobody will buy a terrace or semi-D for RM10mil. That is why we are modelling our land on Hongkong-Shenzhen and this development will take years because waterfront cities are not built in a day. They can take decades for full realisation,” he says.
Lim also wants to work with developers from different countries, say China, India, Europe, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore so that when there is a problem in their home country, not every developer is affected and the overall development can go on.
Future plans of master developer
The Star 8 Dec 12;
On a free day Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo takes a ride on his helicopter to check out vacant land that he could get his hands on to increase Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) landbank. He also checks out land titles of abandon shophouses and buildings to trace the owners so those sites which house squatters can be redeveloped by IWH, which is the master developer of parts of JB city. He met up with StarBizWeek's B.K. Sidhu recently and here are excerpts of the interview:
The market is saying IWH and Khazanah Nasional Bhd are competing for the same investors. Your comment?
There is no competition as our products are different. Talk about competition, our land is mostly reclaimed land and theirs is inland land. Khazanah and the state government are building catalytic projects to attract local and foreign investors. Over the last two years, there has been a rush to the corridor and since Iskandar Malaysia was launched nearly six years ago, we have seen progress.
What we are creating is an urban city and Nusajaya is mostly landed and semi-D units, theme parks, edu-city, Pinewoods studio, industries and so on. Ours is more open to a lot of multinational companies and we would like the MNCs to come here as the cost of their 2 to 3 year rental in Singapore is the cost of owning a building here. We cater to a lifestyle concept that will attract them. So there is no competition as we are focusing more on high rise buildings.
When will the tram and MRT be ready and will IWH be involved?
The tram will only be there once we get into the second phase of the CBD development as we need a bigger area for the tram to run on and it should be completed by 2016. As for the MRT, the consultants have been appointed but we are not sure of the location as this is being done by the Federal Government.
IWH has seen a boost in its landbank from 486ha just 10 months ago to over 1619ha now. Did you get the land from the state government?
Apart from the take over of Tebrau Teguh which had some land, we have also bought land via bank auctions, took over failed and abandoned projects and from Danaharta. We did not get any land from the government, instead we are buying land. We continue to look for more land and any party that cannot develop the land in the city centre can talk to us. We have also bought about 20ha of land in the CBD which is land owned by people that are fifth to 7th generation and some of these land have been infested with squatters. .
So there is no land from the government.
IWH is hoping that Johoreans who have migrated will return to the state. Are they buying anything?
Amazingly 60% of units and plots of land sold are to Johoreans, 25% are to Singaporean and 15% foreigners.
It is also wrong to say Johoreans cannot afford property in Johor. They just did not have the opportunity as earlier developers were not focusing on lifestyle products like ones in KL and Singapore. The demand for lifestyle product is now (given the influence) from Singapore. Now that there is greater demand for lifestyle products, purchases are picking up.
Who's the next big buyer of land after China's Country Garden purchase of 55 acres of land in Danga Bay?
We are in talks with several parties, some are GLCs and they need government approvals. At least a few hundred acres are under negotiations but at some point we will stop selling when we have achieved the target because we do not want to create a property glut. It is a very focused approach that we have in terms of releasing land for development so that all what is built gets absorbed.
We have learnt as JB experienced the biggest glut from the 1997 Asian economic crisis and it has not fully recovered.
A listing for IWH and REITS in the future?
IWH is growing and there will be recurring income over the next 15 years, we are assured of that. When we sell land we buy more land and with that our acerage grows. All this is done together with the state government agency, KPRJ. So naturally, we will be looking to list IWH and definitely we are looking at next year for the listing though we need sometime to make submissions. We also have not appointed our investment bankers. It will be on Bursa Malaysia and we may even explore a dual listing.
We have one division working on REITS.
What's the plan for the 127ha at Desaru?
We will construct a lifestyle living concept, resort and hotel there as there will be a lot of people who will come because the oil and gas hub is taking shape in Pengerang. They will need housing and we want to attract expatriates.
Again, this land was purchased from Danaharta and not given by the government.
Why you think reclaiming land is better?
When we started 15 years ago. Four contractors ran away because they could not reclaim land at Danga Bay. I decided to buy my own equipment and reclaim the land. We have the expertise and why let the land be soaked in the sea when we can reclaim it and built something on it? Look at Singapore. They have reclaimed a lot of land and expanded their coastline.
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