Measures to preserve Singapore's coastline to start this year

PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency and JTC will embark on site-specific studies at the coastlines of City-East Coast and Jurong Island this year, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu during the Committee of Supply debate on Thursday.

Implementation of coastal protection measures for various coastlines will occur in phases, beginning with the most vulnerable parts of the nation's coastlines, according to Ms Fu.

Several factors were taken into consideration to identify these sites, including the potential impact of a flood event, criticality of assets like airports, economic and industrial districts, as well as opportunities to dovetail with upcoming developments.

"Potential measures to be examined include sea walls, polders and nature-based solutions like mangrove planting," said Ms Fu. "In developing these plans, we will search for innovation in complementing our land use, sea space needs and the natural environment."

PUB will also be developing the Coastal-Inland Flood Model to better equip the organisation for coastal protection planning and operations amid climate change.

The Coastal-Inland Flood Model comprises different tools that incorporates advancing climate science and data to allow for holistic flood risk assessment. This is done through analysing the impact of extreme sea levels and intense rainfall-induced inland floods for Singapore.

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This model is able to "simulate flood risk events, and evaluate effectiveness of coastal infrastructure designs against different climatic scenarios", said Ms Fu.

PUB has also planned for long-term measures to mitigate inland flood risks.

Ms Fu said that over the next five years, the government will invest another S$1.36 billion on drainage works, with 10 projects commencing this year, including drainage works at Seletar North Link and Serangoon Avenue 2 and 3.

Over the last 10 years, PUB has invested almost S$2 billion on drainage works.

Singapore has also adopted the "Source-Pathway-Receptor" approach to better manage flash floods. "This addresses flood protection by arresting water at its source such as detention tanks, expanding capacity of pathways such as drains and canals, and deepening capacity of receptors in low-lying areas," the minister said.

Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced at Budget 2021 that the government intends to issue new bonds to finance major and long-term infrastructure, including those for coastal and flood protection.

The Coastal and Flood Protection Fund with an initial injection of S$5 billion was also announced at the budget last year to fund coastal protection measures and drainage infrastructure.

"As Dr Lim Wee Kiak rightly pointed out, coastal and flood protection is a long-term and large-scale effort," said Ms Fu.