WATER SUPPLY FROM TEBRAU RIVER (Capacity to supply additional quantity required for 1960)

Mr A. P. Rajah asked the Prime Minister whether the dry-weather flow in the Tebrau River is capable of supplying the additional quantity of water required for 1960.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Mr Chan Sun Wing) (for the Prime Minister): Mr Speaker, the Tebrau River, because of the absence of storage facilities, can give a safe yield of 15 million gallons a day during dry weather. It is therefore not capable of supplying the additional quantity of water estimated to be required for next year. But our water supply does not depend on Tebrau during dry weather. The general water supply scheme is to draw off all the available water from Tebrau during the wet months and to conserve as much water as possible in the impounding reservoirs against dry spells.

The storage capacity of our reservoirs allows for a maximum water bank of a total of 5,900 million gallons. The break-down storage figures are as follows:- MacRitchie 1,038 million gallons Peirce and Seletar 1,073 million gallons Gunong Pulai and Pontian 3,789 million gallons

As mentioned earlier, we draw a total of 38 million gallons daily from these reservoirs which are replenished by rain-falls. The margin of safety will be further increased when the Tebrau water-works output is stepped up and the Johore River scheme is completed.

Mr Rajah: Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister give any indication as to when the Johore River scheme will be completed?

Mr Chan Sun Wing: I require notice of that question.