WATER CONSUMPTION

Mr David Marshall asked the Prime Minister what is the extent of the average daily consumption in 1961 of water received from the catchment area occupied by the Royal Singapore Golf Club, and the average total daily consumption of water in Singapore in 1960-1961.

The Prime Minister: Sir, the average yield from the MacRitchie Catchment area of 1,890 acres, out of which about 268 acres are occupied by the Royal Singapore Golf Club, was 4,331 million gallons per day or 1,580 million gallons per annum in 1961.

The average daily consumption of water in Singapore was about 67 million gallons per day for 1960-1961.

Mr David Marshall: In the light of the figures given and the negligible quantity of water referable to the 268 acres occupied by the Royal Singapore Golf Club, could the Prime Minister indicate whether he has any plans in mind for more appropriate utilisation of that area for the public benefit?

The Prime Minister: May I inform the Member for Anson that on these matters I have to take the advice of the Water Engineer, and his advice in connection with the forestation of the catchment area was that no further trees should be allowed to be struck down in this catchment area. It may be of interest to the Member for Anson that I turned down a request by another club to extend their golf course, as that would imply more trees coming down. Therefore, I am unable to take what I would consider the hazardous step of allowing any more trees in the catchment area to be struck down.

4.3 million gallons per day is not a negligible amount of water, for which we should be grateful and certainly were grateful last year at the time of the drought.

Mr David Marshall: I understand from the Prime Minister that 4.3 million gallons was from 1,890 acres. Of that, only 268 acres are occupied by the Royal Singa pore Golf Club, which is about one-seventh. So the 4.3 million gallons is not attributable to the Royal Singapore Golf Club. I would enquire from the Prime Minister whether, apart from any planning for the purpose of utilisation of that area to create a satellite town, he would consider transforming it into a public park?

Mr Speaker: It is an entirely different question.

The Prime Minister: May I answer it?

Mr Speaker: Yes, if the Prime Minister wishes to.

The Prime Minister: Surely if there is demand for using the land as a public park, I will not have the slightest hesitation in utilising the land as a public park. In fact, for the information of the Member for Anson, both golf courses are open to members of the public on all public holidays for their use as a place for picnicking and other uses not inconsistent with the desires of the Health Department with regard to rubbish and other sanitary conditions.