Date Published: 11 Mar 2014 1. Mdm Chair, my colleagues in NEA, PUB and MEWR have had a very busy year. In the space of 12 months, we have had to confront the worst haze episode ever; the worst dengue outbreak ever; we still had a couple of localised flash floods to deal with, and now we have the most prolonged dry spell ever. February has been the driest month on record and also the windiest month on record. We seem to be bent on breaking new records all the time. 2. We have had to deal with these multiple challenges, sometimes simultaneously. Often, these have occurred concurrently, and my staff and I have learnt to multi-task in stressful times. Let me begin by thanking all my staff who have laboured tirelessly under sometimes very stressful conditions. I would also thank all Members of Parliament and members of the public who have supported us with suggestions, affirmation and, most important of all, action on the ground. 3. I was struck yesterday that even the comments from the Opposition Members of Parliament –Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Yee Jenn Jong and Mr Low Thia Khiang –were also supportive. At least, I am glad to say that on the environment front, we seem to have bipartisan consensus. 4. All these immediate crises remind us of our fundamental vulnerabilities. They remind us of the need to stay vigilant and also of the need for us to stay united and to remain cohesive. We have seen how resilient Singaporeans have been during the crises. For instance, during the haze last year, volunteers on their own organised themselves to distribute masks and make herbal tea. Some people even opened their homes to provide air-conditioned places of refuge for people who may not have had such facilities. 5. We also have had many others –thousands of people -- who helped us convey dengue messages as well as helped keep our neighbourhoods clean. 6. Apart from these immediate crises, we also have had to plan long term. This was something that came across in many of the speeches which Members made yesterday. In fact, our immediate crises are a bellwether of our future challenges in an increasingly dynamic, complex and inter-connected world. 7. Let me share three key principles that underpin my Ministry’s approach. First, we need to take a long-term perspective in the way we plan and approach our challenges. Singapore is already a very dense, very built-up highly urbanised environment. This makes it particularly challenging for us. We have to bear in mind both the current and the future risks that may arise from decisions that we make today. The decisions and the trade-offs we make today will lock us in for decades to come. We also have to prepare well in advance, to future-proof our environment and to upgrade our infrastructure. 8. For example, we are now in the midst of our longest prolonged dry spell; this is likely to be an El Nino year, which means it can even go on into a full scale drought. Yet, in the midst of all this, we have a buffer of safety. This did not come about by accident. It came about because of 50 years of detailed planning, meticulous implementation and the support of our people and the willingness of this House to provide the funding to invest in our infrastructure for the long term. 9. Similarly, at this point in time, we also have to plan for the next 50 years and beyond. I do not need to remind Members of this House that our Water Agreement with Malaysia will expire in 2061. 10. The second principle is that we need to manage our scarce resources carefully and to assiduously avoid pollution. As a society we need to learn or re-learn the traditional values of not wasting, of re-using, of recycling, of being careful with the way we consume and we also have to avoid locking ourselves into an unsustainable trajectory. We cannot afford to squander our precious resources that we can never recover. Because we are so small, your backyard is my front yard. We cannot afford to pollute any corner or any part of Singapore. 11. Third, we are all in this together. We breathe the same air; we drink the same water; we eat the same food at the same hawker centres; and we enjoy the same parks. All of us have a collective responsibility to be good stewards of our environment for our own sake, our families’ sake and that of our grandchildren. Stock-take of Responses –Enhancing Environmental Quality 12. I will cover four main areas: first, on water; second on our air quality; third on the dengue outbreak; and fourth on pursuing resource efficiency –both water and energy. Current Dry Spell and Importance of Water Conservation and Efficiency 13. First, let me touch on the current dry spell. We have been able to meet our water needs confidently throughout the dry spell so far. That is because PUB has been running our desalination and NEWater plants at almost full capacity. Most of our NEWater is used by industries that need a very pure source of water. In addition to that, we have been able to put about 35 million gallons per day of NEWater to top up and maintain our current reservoir stocks. This NEWater mixed with the raw water in the reservoir ultimately enters PUB’s portable water supply. Nearly all water authorities that use recycled water for human consumption do something like this –I am answering a Member’s question from yesterday. They first use the recycled water to top up the reservoirs or to top up the aquifers, and then, this is mixed with raw water and re-treated a second time using conventional treatment methods. This is what we call “indirect potable use”. 14. We can also think of this as creating an environmental buffer. The water from reverse osmosis, which is very pure, contains hardly any minerals at all. This water is mixed with raw water in the reservoir, and it is subject to the usual ecological processes that occur in a reservoir, and then it undergoes conventional treatment all over again. 15. I note Er Dr Lee Bee Wah’s query yesterday –her question was if we need to double handle the water. Let me spend a little time going through this in detail. 16. So far in the world, I only know of one water authority which since 1968 has been piping recycled directly to the potable water supply. This is the water authority in Namibia from a place called Windhoek. They have been doing this since 1968. 17. We all know NEWater is safe to drink. All of us in this House have drunk it. At a National Day Parade, then Prime Mininster Goh Chok Tong raised a toast to Singapore and we all drank it. As a doctor, I know it is safe to drink. But to dispense with the environmental buffer and to make it routine is a big step. It is not one which I want to rush into. First, we have to make sure that Singaporeans understand that it is safe and accepted. Secondly, we have to be doubly, triply, quadruply sure that all the fail-safe mechanisms are in place. My paramount concern must be the safety and health of our people. Therefore, I accept that there is some merit in Er Dr Lee Bee Wah’s suggestion, but this is something which I will study very, very carefully. I want to give Members this assurance that our top and paramount concern is public hygiene, safety, security and the peace of mind of our people. Let us not rush into this. 18. We owe a great debt to our founding leaders and the Pioneer Generation in PUB for their vision, foresight and their hard work that led to the development of the Four National Taps for Singapore. Just bear in mind that the most recent desalination plant with a capacity of 70 million gallons per day was only completed six months ago. We commenced building this plant in 2011. In 2011, PUB was being heavily criticised for floods and not for droughts. This is a good reminder that flash floods come and go but droughts can be prolonged and are of much greater strategic threat to our well-being. 19. We are reasonably secure for now but we should not be complacent. As I have said earlier, we do not know whether this will turn out to be an El Nino year, and if so, how severe and the implications that has for droughts not only in Singapore but for the region, and even worse, for agricultural producers. This would have a knock-on impact on food prices and other related issues. 20. The point is we cannot afford to waste water. We need to be very careful to emphasise conservation and to insist on an efficient use of water across all sectors. That is why PUB has sent advisories to 25,000 non-household users at this point in time, in order to promote water-saving measures. We are also visiting households with high water usage to promote good water-saving habits, remind them to check on taps, look for leakage, and look for any bad habits. Sometimes, people may not even be aware of it. That is why Members would notice that when they receive the water bills, we also let you compare your bill as benchmarked against comparable homes.