Surbana Jurong clarifies involvement in setting up Singapore Expo care facility

SURBANA Jurong on Tuesday clarified that its involvement in converting the Singapore Expo venue into a community care facility (CCF) was due to a call for specialist support from Temasek Holdings, which wholly owns the urban and infrastructure consultancy. 

The company was responding to social media posts that it said had "unfairly subjected" it to "unfounded accusations of profiteering and corruption". The company asserted that the allegations were not true, adding that it continues to provide its expertise for such Covid-19 projects on a "cost-recovery basis".

On social media, several individuals had questioned the circumstances that led to Surbana Jurong's involvement. The company had helped identify Singapore Expo as a suitable site for the CCF, which was to house patients with early symptoms of the novel coronavirus and those recovering from it, and provided much of the expertise for its set-up.

In its statement on Tuesday, Surbana Jurong said it was one of several Temasek portfolio companies that responded to the government's call for support.

It assembled a team of 50 healthcare planners, architects, mechanical and electrical engineers, project managers, and procurement staff for the task of converting Singapore Expo into a CCF.

The company's partners PSA, Woodlands Health Campus, Parkway Pantai, SingEx, Resorts World Sentosa and others had also worked to get the project running. In four weeks, 10 halls with 8,000 beds were set up.

"At all times, Surbana Jurong is proud and happy to play a critical role in projects that serve the nation's interests," the company said in its statement.

"In service of the community, we will continue to provide our expertise to projects related to managing the COVID-19 crisis on a cost-recovery basis."

Surbana Jurong said the allegations made online are "disrespectful of our colleagues who have made enormous sacrifices, including putting their health at risk, to deliver the projects under challenging conditions, for the benefit of our community".

It added that it will not hesitate to take legal action against those making "scurrilous attacks" against the company.