Unpublished letter to ST Forum by Dr Vilma D´Rozario, 9 May 2013

Cross Island Line will destroy precious habitats and wildlife

I refer to Straits Times article, “Studies of Cross Island Line to start—50 km - MRT route runs deeper underground: LTA” by Jermyn Chow on 6 May 13.

I read with sadness and disbelief that a Cross Island MRT Line will run beneath the Nature Reserve and the Central Catchment Area, requiring soil investigations in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve that are due to begin soon. My utmost concern is that works connected with this development will ruin our most precious natural resource—our central rainforest.

Our rainforest is our natural heritage, unique to us and no other, serving us in more ways than we may know. No MRT line, whether above or underground should pass through it.

With the construction of bore holes every 15 to 20m along the proposed line for soil studies and the running of access roads to the bore holes, the rainforest habitat of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve will be massively and irreversibly damaged.

Even at its best, the Cross Island Line development will ultimately disconnect the primary forest habitats of the MacRitchie Forest area from those of the rest of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Fragmentation of forest areas leads to forest degradation and loss of native wildlife.

We are making heartening progress in the building of the Eco-Link Bridge across the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE), with the hope of compensating for the ill effects of forest fragmentation caused by the construction of the BKE in the past. Should we now negate these efforts by initiating forest fragmentation in another part of the Central Nature Reserve?

Today, the MacRitchie Forest comprises a rich tract of undisturbed primary and mature secondary forest with a network of small, acidic, crystal-clear forest streams supporting unique flora and fauna adapted to living in such special habitats. The Forest Walking Catfish, Black-spotted Sticky Frog, Gold- ringed Cat Snake and Spiny Hill Terrapin have made this part of the forest their home, as have the Sunda Pangolin, Malayan Colugo and Horsefield’s Flying Squirrel, among others.

Development in this forest will undoubtedly lead to siltation of our forest streams due to runoff from bore-hole sites and accompanying access roads. This will in turn destroy unique micro-habitats created by forest streams, killing off native forest frogs, terrapins, freshwater fishes and crustaceans that can only live here. Toxic materials from development sites will inadvertently be spilt and pollute our forest streams. We stand to lose native and endemic denizens of our forest.

Let’s not lose the gift we have. Let’s keep it for our kids and theirs to enjoy.

If we allow the Cross Island MRT line to pass over or under our rainforest, it will be to our disgrace.

I most humbly appeal to the LTA to reconsider the planned route of the Cross Island Line such that it will not intersect our Central Nature Reserve.

Vilma D’Rozario (Dr.) 24 Kew Drive 467962 Phone: 98254467