JOO CHIAT (Flushing of drains)

Mr Yeoh Ghim Seng asked the Minister for Health if he will inform the House of the measures his Ministry has taken or proposes to take to ensure the adequate flushing of all drains, including outlet drains, in the Joo Chiat Constituency, as choked drains and stagnant waters are not conducive to the health of the residents in the area.

The Minister for Health (Mr Chua Sian Chin): Mr Speaker, Sir, where there are regular obstructions to the flow of water in drains due to refuse being thoughtlessly thrown into them causing stagnation of water, smell, and the breeding of flies and mosquitoes, especially where such drains are small and narrow, structurally defective, or are covered by slabs or hawkers' paraphernalia, thus actually hindering and physically preventing the proper cleansing of and the removal of refuse from such drains, then, as a public health measure, the flushing of such drains is carried out.

The flushing of a drain so as to remove obstruction caused by refuse and to provide some measure of flow of water through it, is, therefore, only a temporary palliative measure which is resorted to only when there is no access or there are obstructions over the drain preventing physical entry into the drain for cleansing work. Accordingly, the small drains around congested hawker areas in Joo Chiat and Katong are flushed every day, while in some less congested shop-houses and residential areas, flushing of the drains once or twice a week is carried out.

Storm water drains receiving no sullage water do not require any flushing, while in big outlet drains, flushing is not effective, as the small jets of water from the flushing hoses cannot move the refuse in big drains, let alone dislodge obstructions in them. This is because the combined inertia of the great volume of water and the big mass of refuse in such big outlet drains rapidly dissipates the energy of the small water jets of the flushing hoses.

It is estimated that only about 10 per cent of all drains in built-up areas in Singapore are being flushed as proper cleansing work cannot be done because of obstructions or hindrances on or over these drains, using about 350,000 gallons of water per day. If all drains, including outlet drains, in Singapore were to he flushed, as suggested by the hon. Member for Joo Chiat, this would require at least 3.5 million gallons of water every day going down the drain. This would cost the Government $3,500 in water bills per day; an expenditure which is not only unnecessary, but completely unjustifiable as the precious water in our island republic should never be allowed to be wasted in this way.

The flushing of drains, accordingly, is not the answer. The solution, therefore, is not to allow drains to be choked with ref use, thrown indiscriminately and thoughtlessly by hawkers, shopkeepers and householders alike. Refuse should he placed in properly covered dust-bins for removal by public cleansing workmen. Drains should not be slabbed and covered over so that there will be no obstructions or hindrances to public cleansing workers cleaning and removing refuse from drains.

Under the new Conservancy Regulations which came into force on 1st July, 1968 - I hope hon. Members are quite familiar with the provisions - every householder, hawker and stall-holder will be required to have a dustbin or be provided with a dustbin by the Cleansing Department, and the cost recovered from them through the P.U.B. Consolidated Accounts. Heavy fines of up to $150 for the first offence, $500 for the second offence, and $1,000 for the third and subsequent offences will be imposed on anyone depositing refuse on to the roadsides, backlanes, vacant grounds, or into drains. With these revised public health regulations, there should be very little need for drain flushing, and there should be a new consciousness among the public cleansing workers and the members of the public alike to make and keep Singapore the cleanest city in Southeast Asia.