NEW POWER STATION

Mrs Seow Peck Leng asked the Prime Minister (a) whether Government intends to build another power station in view of the proposed industrialization, and (b) whether he would name the site of the station.

The Prime Minister: Sir, I would refer the Member for Mountbatten to my reply to her colleague, the Member for Tanglin, at the sitting of this House on 15th January, 1962, when he expressed his fears of future blackouts. I then said:

`A new power station to meet the needs of industrial expansion is also being built and a World Bank loan is being sought for this. The consultants for this project are already in Singapore.

The first Phase of the new station is for plant capable of generating 60 M.W. which is scheduled for commission in 1965. With these developments, it is not expected that there will be any sudden shortage of supply in the future. On the contrary, our total generating plant, once installed, should enable us to meet our expanding needs, including the Jurong Industrial Development project.'

The new power station will be sited on land adjacent to the existing Pasir Panjang Power Station. Consideration is also being given to another extension to the existing station.

Mrs Seow Peck Leng: Mr Speaker, Sir, is it true that if this new proposed power station is built at Pasir Panjang, to take it to Jurong would cost over $7 million?

The Prime Minister: Can I have the actual meaning of the expression "to take it to Jurong"? To take the power to Jurong, or to take the station to Jurong?

Mrs Seow Peck Leng: To bring the power to Jurong, Mr Speaker.

The Prime Minister: I would not like to embark on minute subsidiaries of this nature, because I do not think the consideration of the site is influenced only by the cost of laying cables from Pasir Panjang to Jurong. There must be certain other factors, such as proximity to the present site for management purposes and so on, which bear heavily on these questions. I am not in a position to give an expert opinion on these things. If the Member for Mountbatten feels that she has been sufficiently advised or briefed to question the propriety of the sitting of the site, perhaps notice could be given, and I would be properly advised on the matter.

Mrs Seow Peck Leng: Mr Speaker, Sir, I just wonder whether the Prime Minister is aware of the fact that there is an oil company next to the station which has made me raise these questions. If ever there is a leakage of oil coming up to the surface and should there be a fire, and if the centralisation of this station is at Pasir Panjang, then the whole of Singapore, including industries, will not have electricity. Has the Prime Minister given consideration to that fact, and having given consideration to that fact, does he not think that it would be cheaper in the long run to have an entirely new station at Jurong - as other more developed countries are doing decentralising their power stations?

The Prime Minister: With respect to the hon. Lady, that is an entirely different factor altogether. As I see it, the first question is related to the cost of taking power from Pasir Panjang to Jurong. Now an additional argument is put forward, that perhaps, to site one power station next to another is bad, and in any case the position is further made worse because an oil company is nearby. Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not in a position to answer each of these questions in specificatio. As I have said, if she will put them down specifically, I will give the expert's answers to them.

But I will make this one point, Sir. Before the oil company was allowed at its present site, all the experts had been consulted and all the necessary rules and regulations had been complied with to the satisfaction of the experts as far as fire was concerned. On that score, I can, from my personal recollection of what took place in the negotiations, assure the hon. Lady that there is a minimum of risk arising out of fire. I am in fact, assured by the authorities concerned that the risk is not to the Pasir Panjang Power Station. If the risk is a risk to any important installation, it is the harbour and the anchorage.