JTC to reclaim 172ha of land in Tuas for industrial use, improved connections to Tuas Port

NEW reclamation works are planned for Tuas, which will yield about 172ha of land for industrial use and to improve road connections to Tuas Port.

JTC Corporation, the government agency overseeing Singapore’s industrial spaces, told The Straits Times that reclamation works at Northern Tuas Basin are slated to begin in 2025 and end around 2029.

The project will “meet land demand for future industrial uses as part of ongoing plans to rejuvenate the older parts of Jurong and Tuas Industrial Estates, which were developed in the 1960s and 1970s”, the agency said in response to queries.

JTC added that newly reclaimed land is also necessary for infrastructure and road network connections to Tuas South and Tuas Port, which is being developed in four phases and will be fully completed in the 2040s.

The 172ha of new land will be nearly double the size of the 93ha Bidadari estate, and will add to the roughly 2,200ha meant for industrial use in Tuas and Tuas South.

As part of the upcoming reclamation, JTC and the National Environment Agency (NEA) will pilot the use of incineration bottom ash – a solid residue from the burning of waste in incineration plants – as reclamation fill.

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This pilot is among recent efforts to either reduce incineration waste entering or to remove such waste from Semakau Landfill – Singapore’s only landfill. NEA is studying the feasibility of mining about 10 million cubic m of waste to reclaim Tuas Port Phase 3 from the landfill, whose 28 million cubic m capacity is expected to be reached by 2035 at current waste disposal rates.

The Government has reclaimed land over time to expand Tuas – a former swamp – for industrial use, with about 650ha added in the 1980s.

Since that time, the Northern Tuas Basin area has housed firms such as offshore marine servicing and pharmaceutical companies.

JTC said it had, in 2015 and 2016, engaged 25 companies that will be affected by the reclamation to give them sufficient time to relocate.

Since then, 22 have vacated their premises, while the remaining three are expected to relocate progressively by 2025, said JTC, adding that reclamation works will be executed in phases and coordinated to minimise the impact on companies.

Ahead of the upcoming works, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was conducted in 2023, and its report made available for public viewing from Nov 10 to Dec 8 at JTC Summit – subject to the signing of a non-disclosure agreement.

JTC said the EIA – which like other assessments for land reclamation projects looked into the impact on water quality and marine ecology, among other things – concluded there would be no significant environmental impact from the project with the implementation of mitigation measures recommended by the consultant that conducted the assessment.

Such measures could include installing silt screens to limit the flow of sediment, and minimising dredging works, said JTC.

On the use of incineration residue for reclamation, JTC and NEA said “a small location in Northern Tuas Basin under a drainage channel has been identified where the use of incineration bottom ash could be trialled in a controlled manner”.

The agencies said that about 25,000 cubic m of incineration bottom ash could be used as part of reclamation works, but did not state the total volume of fill needed for the project.

The scope and specification of the pilot will be confirmed before a tender for reclamation works is awarded, they said.

“Environmental monitoring, including long-term groundwater movement, will also be carried out to evaluate the potential environmental impacts,” said JTC and NEA.

They added that no such pilot has been undertaken before, although incineration bottom ash has been used in other trials, such as part of base material in a section of Tanah Merah Coast Road.

JTC said it will review feedback received from the public before finalising the report and starting reclamation works, during which mitigation measures will be assessed as part of an environmental management and monitoring plan.

Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, said that even though land in Tuas is currently not fully utilised, opportunities to add land should be taken sooner rather than later, given Singapore’s limited space for development and the country’s many competing needs.

However, Alan Cheong, executive director of research and consultancy at Savills Singapore, questioned the need for more industrial land, given global developments such as a potential land bridge in southern Thailand that might have a dilutive impact on manufacturing-for-export activities in Singapore, and lead to less demand for industrial space in the long run.

He said that even if demand picks up unexpectedly, factories could easily go multi-storey – JTC itself has developed such buildings in recent years.

But Tay noted that not all industrial activities can be sited in high-rise buildings, and provisions need to be made for those requiring land.

He added that land reserves for industrial use will give Singapore the flexibility to adapt and pivot as manufacturing and trade trends evolve over time, and technology advances.

With the phased development and opening of Tuas Port, Tay said vehicle volume in the area will increase, and having a road network in place to accommodate this increase will remove the need to build new roads after demand has gone up, which will be disruptive. THE STRAITS TIMES