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Govt to review canals across S'pore as part of efforts to prevent floods
By Jeremy Koh | Posted: 19 June 2010 1636 hrs
SINGAPORE : Following Wednesday's Orchard Road floods, the government will be reviewing all canals across Singapore to prevent a recurrence of the floods.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said this on Saturday on the sidelines of a community event.
He added that it is a matter the government is taking "very seriously".
Dr Yaacob said the government will be reviewing all canals in Singapore to see what more can be done.
It will look at ways to improve maintenance.
For example, the cleaning contracts for canals will be extended from three to five years so that contractors can invest in new technologies to clean the canals.
"Every event is a new learning experience for us. This rainfall was totally unexpected, I can be very honest about it. If you look at rainfall patterns, we've never seen such a pattern," said Dr Yaacob.
"Having said that, it means there are new things happening, so the approach we should be taking is to learn from this, improve upon it, and assure Singaporeans that we'll do our best to prevent this as much as possible," he added.
"The Marina Barrage works because when the rainfall came, we opened up six gates and the water flowed out and there was no flooding downtown. So had there not been a blockage, it'll be a very good system as far as we're concerned," he said.
Dr Yaacob said early investigations showed that both sections of the Stamford Canal in Orchard Road could handle the storm surge, if not for the blockage in one of them.
So this is one area that agencies like PUB and the National Environment Agency (NEA) will be looking into to prevent a future occurrence.
"The ministries responsible will have to take it up. On my part, PUB and NEA will do their part to improve this, (and) if we have to work with NParks, we'll work with NParks. The PUB will be going around, looking at which buildings are susceptible to such rainfall and see what we can do with them," said Dr Yaacob.
The minister also said the response by PUB and other agencies has been commendable, as they did their best to help the businesses and people affected.
"The PUB will be going around, looking at which buildings are susceptible to such rainfall and see what we can do with them," said dr Yaacob.
Asked about compensation for the damage, Dr Yaacob said the government will assist those affected as much as possible.
He also said that new buildings and construction in the area are not a contributing factor to the floods, contrary to what some believe. -
By Jeremy Koh | Posted: 19 June 2010 1636 hrs
SINGAPORE : Following Wednesday's Orchard Road floods, the government will be reviewing all canals across Singapore to prevent a recurrence of the floods.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said this on Saturday on the sidelines of a community event.
He added that it is a matter the government is taking "very seriously".
Dr Yaacob said the government will be reviewing all canals in Singapore to see what more can be done.
It will look at ways to improve maintenance.
For example, the cleaning contracts for canals will be extended from three to five years so that contractors can invest in new technologies to clean the canals.
"Every event is a new learning experience for us. This rainfall was totally unexpected, I can be very honest about it. If you look at rainfall patterns, we've never seen such a pattern," said Dr Yaacob.
"Having said that, it means there are new things happening, so the approach we should be taking is to learn from this, improve upon it, and assure Singaporeans that we'll do our best to prevent this as much as possible," he added.
"The Marina Barrage works because when the rainfall came, we opened up six gates and the water flowed out and there was no flooding downtown. So had there not been a blockage, it'll be a very good system as far as we're concerned," he said.
Dr Yaacob said early investigations showed that both sections of the Stamford Canal in Orchard Road could handle the storm surge, if not for the blockage in one of them.
So this is one area that agencies like PUB and the National Environment Agency (NEA) will be looking into to prevent a future occurrence.
"The ministries responsible will have to take it up. On my part, PUB and NEA will do their part to improve this, (and) if we have to work with NParks, we'll work with NParks. The PUB will be going around, looking at which buildings are susceptible to such rainfall and see what we can do with them," said Dr Yaacob.
The minister also said the response by PUB and other agencies has been commendable, as they did their best to help the businesses and people affected.
"The PUB will be going around, looking at which buildings are susceptible to such rainfall and see what we can do with them," said dr Yaacob.
Asked about compensation for the damage, Dr Yaacob said the government will assist those affected as much as possible.
He also said that new buildings and construction in the area are not a contributing factor to the floods, contrary to what some believe. -
