RECLAMATION AT JURONG

5.16 p.m.

The Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the motion* standing in my name as it appears on the Order Paper.

• The motion reads as follows:

`That this Parliament, in accordance with section 4 of the Foreshores Act (Chapter 270), approves: -

(a) the additional reclamation by Government of a total of 208.5 acres of fore-shore and seabed at Jurong as shown coloured green, orange and red on the plan marked as "LAND OFFICE RECLAMATION PLAN NO. 10/73", which is deposited in the Land Office, Singapore;

(b) the construction by Government of the foreshore structures, namely a dock as shown edged in dark green, quay walls as indicated by broken black lines, and a jetty as shown edged in pink on the said plan; and

(c) the dredging by Government of the seabed as shown coloured blue on the said plan.'

Sir, you will recall that in October, 1972, this House approved the reclamation of a total of about 1,110.2 acres of the foreshore at Jurong shown coloured yellow, purple and hatched in purple on the plan marked as "LAND OFFICE RECLAMATION PLAN NO. 10/73", a copy of which is displayed in the Library of this House for the information of hon. Members. The reclamation was to provide additional land for industrial development. About 50 per cent of this area has already been reclaimed commencing from the eastern side.

Messrs. Mitsubishi (Singapore) Heavy Industries Private Limited, which was allotted the areas shown coloured purple and hatched in purple on the same plan for ship-building and ship-repairing, has, in order to save time and costs, decided to alter the original proposed pattern of the reclamation by abandoning the area shown hatched in purple (about 91.3 acres in area) and substituting in lieu thereof the areas shown coloured green and orange (about 114.5 acres in area). It also proposes to construct in the areas shown coloured green and purple on the plan a dock, (shown edged in dark green), quay walls (shown in broken black lines) and a jetty (shown edged in pink). All these proposed structures are also shown in an enlarged fashion in the inset drawn on the plan. To provide suitable access to these structures, it is necessary to dredge the nearby seabed shown coloured blue on the plan to a depth of 35 feet below mean sea level.

The Jurong Town Corporation which supports the above proposals also proposes to reclaim an additional area of 94 acres of the foreshore as shown coloured brown on the plan for allotment to other shipyards and to create two basins (about 800 feet wide and 1,200 feet wide respectively) as shown hatched in blue on the plan. These basins will provide more water frontage for marine and marine-oriented industries and will further improve the use of the reclaimed land.

The Corporation will bear the cost of additional reclamation estimated at about $17 million and the fill for the reclamation will be obtained from the dredging of the areas shown coloured blue and hatched in blue on the plan and, if necessary, from the hills at Jurong which are being levelled to provide additional industrial sites.

On completion of the reclamation, this reclaimed land will again be proclaimed as State land and alienated to the Corporation on terms and conditions to be agreed with the Commissioner of Lands.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this Parliament, in accordance with section 4 of the Foreshores Act (Chapter 270), approves : -

(a) the additional reclamation by Government of a total of 208.5 acres of foreshore and seabed at Jurong as shown coloured green, orange and red on the plan marked as "LAND OFFICE RECLAMATION PLAN NO. 10/73", which is deposited in the Land Office, Singapore;

(b) the construction by Government of the foreshore structures, namely a dock as shown edged in dark green, quay walls as indicated by broken black lines, and a jetty as shown edged in pink on the said plan; and

(c) the dredging by Government of the seabed as shown coloured blue on the said plan.