COMMUNICATIONS, CONSTRUCTION AND HOUSING

Shipping

Shipping, civil aviation and telecommunications play a vital role in the economic life of Singapore. It is essential that our citizens should man all the important points in these services as soon as practicable.

The P.A.P. Government has taken steps to remedy this defect by starting a one-year pre-sea training course in the Polytechnic, so that students who take this course will eventually be trained as cadets in the merchant marine service and acquire the necessary sea experience to sit for the foreign master's certificate examination. Although our port and harbour facilities are the best in the East the number of Singapore citizens who have the requisite technical qualifications to run the port in all its aspects is negligible. This is because no action was taken by past governments to encourage local personnel to be trained in the necessary skills and techniques. With the cooperation of the Japanese Government under the Colombo Plan students will be sent to Japan to study marine engineering and naval architecture. These students will eventually be placed in the Marine Survey Department and the Singapore Harbour Board.

Port Authority

Some progress has been made in the planning to set up a Port Authority combining the functions now carried out by the Singapore Harbour Board and some departments of Government. The problem of appointing an experienced, competent and capable Chief Executive for the Port Authority has still to be resolved before the new organisation can take shape under expert planning. The Government expects to be able to begin the organisation changes in this session.

The Singapore Harbour Board is proceeding with the East Wharf Project which will give nine new berths. This is the first stage in the long-term scheme for the development of our harbour facilities.

Civil Aviation

By April 1961 it is expected that the new building to house the administration, control tower, air traffic control centre, aeronautical information service, meteorological station and the offices of air line operators will be ready for occupation. Co-ordination of all services for civil aviation will then be centralised and the handling of increased flight frequencies of modern jet aircraft will be made more efficient.

Postal Services

The postal services are being expanded by establishing new Post Offices and Postal Agencies particularly to meet the increasing needs of rural communities. A new non-delivery Post Office will be opened in Pulau Bukom at the end of this month.

Parking Schemes

The parking schemes for cars have been successfully operated. These schemes have proved their usefulness in relieving congestion in the heart of the city and in introducing orderliness in the car parks. Plans are in hand for the introduction of this parking scheme in other areas of the city.

Telephone Services

During the next 12 months, the Singapore Telephone Board will connect more than 3,000 subscribers into our present Singapore Telephone Board network from all our exchanges. By June 1961, Nee Soon, Sembawang, Changi and Upper Tampines will be connected to our general network.

During the year, the Singapore Telephone Board proposes to connect telephones to kampongs and villages in the urban and rural areas. Local Government integration with Government Ministries

The process of integrating the City Council with the Government Ministries is administratively completed. All departments are now administratively integrated with and directed by the respective Government Ministries. Only a Public Utilities Corporation remains to beset up. Extensive schemes for developing of electricity, gas and water supplies have been planned to meet increased demand arising from both the increase in population as well as industrial expansion.

Lands and Planning

On February 1st this year, the Planning Ordinance was brought into force and a Planning Department created under the Prime Minister's Ministry. The new department is now working smoothly and speedily. The Master Plan will be revised to take into account the greatly increased population and Government's Five-Year Economic Development Plan. This will take time to complete but consideration is being given in the meantime to an interim revision of the Master Plan.

The industrialisation programme of Government will be set in motion when the Land Office initiates action to acquire a total of 2,438½ acres in the Jurong area. This is in addition to other areas to be acquired for drainage works, schools, clinics and community centres.

Legislation to give farmers better security of tenure is under preparation and will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly during this session.

Housing

Between the period June 1959 and February 1960 contracts for the construction of only 821 housing units were given out. In February 1960 the Housing and Development Board was formed to take over the housing functions of the former S.I.T. For the five months that it has been in existence the Board has so far given out contracts for the construction of 4,000 units. It has also drawn up a Five-Year Building Programme providing for the construction of 52,000 units at an estimated total cost of $210 million over the period 1960 to 1964.

There are now 4,720 units under construction of which 1,811 units will be completed by the end of this year.

Flood Alleviation

The flood problems in Singapore have become more acute year by year with the development of built-up areas. Considerable work and funds are to be concentrated on flood alleviation schemes. Work is already proceeding on flood alleviation schemes in Ulu Pandan, Queenstown, Geylang, Bukit Timah, Tampines and Jurong.

Rural Amenities

Work on the improvement of kampongs in the rural areas has been specially intensified and water mains laid in areas where water supply is most needed. More standpipes are being installed in remote areas where drinking water from wells is either brackish or unsuitable for drinking purposes. Programme for kampong sanitation, water main laying and erection of standpipes have been prepared and more of these services will be introduced in the future.

New link roads are in the course of construction for these areas: West Coast Road/Jurong, Choa Chu Kang/Lim Chu Kang, Serangoon Garden Estates/Braddell Road. Agricultural roads to help farmers to bring their produce to the markets are being constructed in accordance to priorities.

Electricity supply is now being brought to remote rural areas and the erection of more substations and the abundance of electricity from St. James Power Station will help the project to become a reality. All possible help is being given and in some cases the Rural Board subsidizes schemes for electrification of areas, e.g. Kampong Chai Chee at Changi Road, 6¼ m.s., and Bulim at Choa Chu Kang Road.

Community Centres

Medium and small Community Centres will continue to be built in all areas which are thickly populated. Small Community Halls will be built in attap areas. Agriculture

With the increased production of sewerage sludge in Singapore it is proposed to use it as a base for different formulations of fertilisers by incorporating chemical fertilisers. These mixtures will be tried out at the Government Experimental Stations and, if found to be satisfactory, arrangements will be made to make them available to the farmers in order to assist them to cut their cost of production of vegetables.

Poultry Farming

An improved strain of chicks has been bred which will grow much faster than the local Canton fowl and which will lay 40 per cent more eggs. Each fowl of this strain will lay up to 150 eggs per year whereas the local Canton fowl can lay only between 90 and 100 eggs per year. Day-old chicks of this new strain will be distributed to farmers to improve their livestock.

Fishing

Government is considering a scheme to encourage Malay fishermen to seek new waters for fishing and to assist them with equipment. The success of this scheme depends largely on negotiations with the Indonesian Government for the Malay fishermen to fish in their territorial waters off Singapore.