WE REFER to Wednesday's letters ("Rethink route of Cross Island MRT line" by Mr Chia Yong Soong; and "Cross Island Line: LTA must be proactive in engaging stakeholders" by Mr Eugene Tay Tse Chuan, Forum Online).
The detailed alignment of the Cross Island Line has not been decided and the Land Transport Authority will carry out detailed studies before finalising the alignment.
We assure readers that we will be commissioning an independent Environmental Impact Assessment to study the environmental impact of the line, as part of its overall assessment and design.
As part of the assessment, the consultant is required to develop guidelines to guide the engineering investigative works, which will be carried out in compliance with these guidelines.
In the coming months, we will engage and consult various stakeholders, including nature and environmental groups, to ensure that their views and concerns are accommodated as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment study.
We share the environmentalists' concerns over any possible impact on the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and assure them that sufficient time will be accorded to address these concerns.
Protecting the nature reserves will be an integral consideration for the project and all efforts will be taken to minimise impact to the environment.
In particular, we assure the public that some of the scenarios that have been raised, such as the need or intention to clear large tracts of forest in the nature reserves, or the possibility of there being major construction works within the nature reserves, are not being contemplated.
We ask for some patience as we continue to make preparations for the consultation and the Environmental Impact Assessment.
Helen Lim (Ms)
Director, Media Relations and Public Education
Director, Media Relations and Public Education
Rethink route of Cross Island MRT line
THE proposal to run the Cross Island Line across the gazetted Central Catchment Nature Reserve is a cause for concern ("Route of MRT line a concern: Nature Society"; last Saturday).
At stake is a national treasure trove of biodiversity - a verdant stretch of primary, secondary and young forest that supports many native plants and trees, and is home to insects, animals, birds and fishes.
Water from natural sources there drains into the surrounding reservoirs. The vast catchment forest also acts as a green lung in the central part of our island, providing clean air and counteracting the greenhouse effect.
Even if the rail system runs underground, much construction work will have to be done on the surface, such as providing access to transportation and building site offices.
Large tracts of forest would have to be cleared. This means erosion, pollution, noise and a whole host of other ill effects.
One wonders how an Environmental Impact Assessment can have anything positive to say about such a venture.
That such a proposal came to pass throws into question the claims by the Government of its commitment to protect the environment. It seems that even a gazetted nature reserve is no longer protected.
There should not be soft or easy options, and certainly not explanations such as "this is the most direct and shortest route across".
I urge the Government to seriously rethink the route of the line and avoid the destruction of a major part of our natural heritage.
Chia Yong Soong
ST Forum, 29 May 2013
ST Forum, 29 May 2013
Cross Island Line: LTA must be proactive in engaging stakeholders
THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) must be proactive and sincere in engaging stakeholders when planning the Cross Island Line, whose present design has tracks cutting across the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Area ("Route of MRT line a concern: Nature Society"; last Saturday).
Nature reserves are sensitive habitats and gazetted areas, and the LTA should have anticipated the concerns of stakeholders before unveiling its plans in January.
There were apparently no proactive attempts to engage or consult stakeholders before the announcement.
Concerned stakeholders have waited patiently for four months to engage LTA to understand its plans for the Environmental Impact Assessment and feasibility studies. How much longer do they have to wait?
The LTA should come forward with a concrete date for the stakeholder engagement.
Now is the time for it to be proactive and sincere in engaging the Nature Society and interested individuals and groups. The future of our nature reserves is at stake.
Eugene Tay Tse Chuan
ST Forum, 29 May 2013
ST Forum, 29 May 2013
Route of MRT line a concern: Nature Society
Design shows line runs through nature reserve; LTA to study impact
By Natalie Kuan, The Straits Times, 25 May 2013
THE Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) has called for a realignment of the Cross- Island MRT line (CRL), to protect the nature reserve in the central catchment area that includes MacRitchie Reservoir.
Design shows line runs through nature reserve; LTA to study impact
By Natalie Kuan, The Straits Times, 25 May 2013
THE Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) has called for a realignment of the Cross- Island MRT line (CRL), to protect the nature reserve in the central catchment area that includes MacRitchie Reservoir.
It noted that the present design has the train tracks passing through the nature reserve to connect Bukit Timah and Ang Mo Kio. This will cause habitat fragmentation and soil erosion, leading to significant environmental damage, it said.
The society's official spokesman on this issue, Mr Tony O'Dempsey, said: "Nature reserves are gazetted for the purpose of conserving native flora and fauna.
"We should not even be thinking of putting infrastructure through our nature reserves."
The society is suggesting that the line runs around the nature reserve, though it is aware that alternative routes pose new challenges.
They are keeping their options open, and are only advising that the line not run through the nature reserve, the society said in a position paper it plans to put up on its website by the end of this month.
Going around the nature reserve instead of cutting through it means a longer route but has the benefit of protecting the reserve, the society said.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) unveiled the CRL in January this year. A date for construction has not been set, but the line is slated for completion in 2030.
Earlier this month, the LTA said it will start feasibility studies for the line at the end of this year.
This includes soil investigation works, where 70m-deep holes are bored at 15m to 20m intervals to determine the strength of soil in the tunnelling area.
The society said its position paper will include geographic information systems (GIS) analysis to show that this will lead to unavoidable soil pollution in forest streams, killing stream flora and fauna, and causing imbalances in the surrounding ecosystem.
It is also conducting targeted fauna surveys in the affected areas, which will take several months to complete. It will continue to update its position paper as survey results and members' feedback come in.
When contacted on this issue, an LTA spokesman said "the LTA fully intends to commission an independent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to study the environmental impact of the Cross-Island Line".
She said a consultant would be engaged before engineering investigative works into the central catchment nature reserve begin.
The engineering investigative works, which also include soil investigations, will be carried out in compliance with guidelines set by the EIA consultant, she added.
The spokesman also stressed that the LTA will engage and consult various stakeholders such as the NSS to "ensure that their views and concerns are accommodated as part of the EIA study".
She added: "We ask for some patience as we continue to make preparations for the consultation and the EIA."
Still, Mr O'Dempsey, who holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Surveying) and has worked in the GIS industry in Singapore for 19 years, feels it is too late to conduct an environmental impact assessment if soil investigation is to begin by this year.
He estimates that a credible EIA would take almost a year to complete. "It is never too late to start but if you start now, there won't be any possibility of doing soil investigation along the alignment this year," he said.
The society hopes that with this paper, the LTA will take into account its concerns over the CRL. It welcomed being engaged in the process of considering alternative designs.
Other local environmentalists such as Ms Teresa Guttensohn from Cicada Tree Eco-Place are also getting in on the action. Ms Guttensohn has a protest planned for June 22 to 23 at Hong Lim Park.
Cicada Tree Eco-Place will also be organising walks through MacRitchie Reservoir on June 16 and 30, from 8.30am to 11.30am, to raise awareness of the issue.
Both events are open to the public.