S'pore ready for rising seas

ENVIRONMENT and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim has revealed some preliminary findings of a two-year government study on the impact of climate change.

The good news: Singapore is well placed to deal with the threat of rising sea-levels.

Responding to MP Lily Neo (Jalan Besar GRC) who had asked for the preliminary findings, Dr Yaacod told Parliament on Monday that sea-levels in Singapore were projected to rise by a little over 50cms at most.

The preliminary findings on the rising sea level for Singapore indicate an additional 4cm to 5cm per century sea level increase over the global mean sea level projection of 21cm to 48 cm.

These results come at the mid-point of a study commissioned by the Government last year in the wake of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 4th assessment report. A team was tasked to scrutinise the UN report to assess the localised impact.

Early figures thrown up by this team were reassuring for the country. The existing measures were already more than enough to deal with the threat.

Dr Yaacob spelt out some of these measures.

First, he pointed that all new creclaimed projects since 1991 had to be built at least 125cms above the highest recorded tide level.

Second, he said the development of drainage infrastructure over the last three decades had reduced flood-prone areas from 3,200 hectares in the 1970s to just 98 hectares today. This would be further cut to less than 48 hectares by 2011 through works such as widening and deepening drains and canals.

'While the objective of this is to reduce flood prone areas and alleviate flooding today, the overall enhancement of drainage systems helps to reduce the possibility of upstream flooding when heavy rains coincides with high tides or sea-level rises due to climate change,' he explained.

Finally, Dr Yaacob said that the Marina Barrage project was another buffer for Singapore against floods.

Despite all this, he stressed that Singapore cannot be complacent and the Government would continue, through moves like the study, to improve their understanding of the impact of climate change.