NATURE RESERVE LAND

Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for National Development what is the exact area of protected nature reserve land that was cleared for use for water storage facilities and if he will consider increasing the remaining nature reserves to compensate for the area so used.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: The exact area that was cleared for the construction of the service reservoir is 11 ha. This area was specifically chosen to minimise the impact on the nature reserves. It consists of young forest with no key forest species. After the project is completed, about 7.5 ha will be fenced in as a protected area. The remaining area, which consists mainly of slopes, will be turfed to reduce erosion and reverted back to natural vegetation. NParks will speed up the regeneration by planting back with native plants to reforest the site, wherever possible.

As to the Member's query on whether the area of the nature reserves should be increased to compensate for the land to be taken up by the proposed water storage facilities, MND has no plans to do so. Firstly, the present case is an exceptional one and the land take has been minimised significantly. Secondly, the size of the nature reserves has to be determined by the value of the bio-diversity contained in it as well as the overall balance of competing requirements for land in Singapore. It is therefore not a sacrosanct constant that has to be maintained.

I would however like to reassure the Member that NParks will monitor and safeguard the integrity of the nature reserves, wherever feasible.