The mystery of the clogged drain is solved - there was no clogged drain.
Depending on how you read it, Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim as good as called PUB chief Khoo Teng Chye a bold-faced liar: "A blocked drain was not the main cause for the floods at Orchard Road a month ago." (ST, 20 July) Lee Kuan Yew may call Singaporeans ignorant, nobody actually believed that a 2.7m by 2.7m drain could be clogged, especially when there was no photographic evidence.
After the Katrina-like devastation of 16 June, PUB's Khoo confidently boasted that the Singapore drainage system capacity is sufficient, having gulped $2 billion to upgrade the drainage infrastructure and to reduce floods. "A huge amount of water, equivalent to 60 Olympic-size pools, carried vegetation and other debris which partially obstructed the culvert across Orchard Road. This resulted in rainwater overflowing into the Stamford Canal and Orchard Road," was Khoo's know-it-all explanation.
In parliament, Yaacob told the house that during the storm, rainwater equivalent to 1 1/2 Olympic pools had flowed into the Orchard Road section of the Stamford Canal. Guess what? That section, we are now told, can handle no more than 1 1/3 Olympic pools equivalent of water a minute. So much for spending "$2 billion to upgrade the drainage infrastructure and to reduce floods". The Accountant-General should take a peek at how much was diverted (pun intended) to civil servant salaries, perks and performance bonuses.
Enough of the good-cop bad-cop wayang already. The truth lies somewhere in what Forum letter writer Patrick Low queried: "To what extent has the loss of 40 percent of our natural forests, from 37.8 sq km to 22.6 sq km between 1960 and 2006, affected the island's ability to absorb torrential downpours?" While we are at it, another simple question from simple folk, "How much of Orchard Road have been concreted over in the past few years?"
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You go dude. Love your writing and that acerbic wit of yours.
ReplyDeletethis is not the govt that shall you the truth, never and indeed Singapore is in a very very sad state! i live in Bt Timah and the de-forestation is pathetic and in the name of 'economy' growth, all and around the area is nothing but concrete.
ReplyDeleteto say the least, we are doomed and out and expect more flood then on...about the rooted tree that kills, just barely 3 days ago, NEA boasted of no death and that rooted trees have fallen 'less', thereafter what happen?! killed a driver so in essence, Singapore life is dirt cheap!
The marina barrage is one big physical barrier, which impedes rainwater from flowing directly and quickly into the sea, no matter how many drainage openeings it has. A sudden huge and fierce deluge of water could easily overwhelm all the gate openings.
ReplyDeleteOf course the concreting of numerous new buildings in Orchard and Bt. Timah also contributes to the floodings, but the Barage at the end is one big factor. Nobody dares to point fingers at this impedeing structure, as it is the pet project of MM Lee. His face is more important than everything else, and he does not have to bear the consequences of compensation of affected people. Our MM Lee is really a drag on Singapore, much as we admired him for his contribution to our country, we wish he could retire gracefuuly, and hand over really completely to younger politicians, he has outlived his usefulness, as he has had made many mistakes recently.
The way he is/is not managing the floods, Dr Yakult Ibrahim should be renamed the Minister for the Environment and Water Curses.
ReplyDeleteANOTHER STUPID ARTICLE ...
ReplyDeleteIF THE SIMPLE FOLK KNOWS THE ANSWER, WHY ARE THEY NOT IN THE JOB THEN ...
THIS PLACE IS STILL MUCH BETTER ELSEWHERE WHERE YOU CAN NEARLY DIE DUE TO FLOODS , TSUNAMIS, ETC
THIS IS DUE TO THE WORK OF ALL PEOPLE IN SPORE ...