Singapore to invest $400m in revamping drainage systems

This is expected to mitigate flooding and build up climate resilience.

Citing the need to build up climate resilience, Singapore is investing $400m in the next two years to upgrade and maintain its drainage system and improve flood resilience, according to Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.

Since 2011, MEWR has spent around $1.8b on drainage improvement works to boost Singapore’s flood resilience, including the Stamford Diversion Canal and Stamford Detention Tank completed last year.

The ministry has also invested in R&D in NEWater and desalination to strengthen water security for drought resilience. “To strengthen our food resilience, we aim to diversify our food imports, produce 30% of Singapore’s nutritional needs locally by 2030, and grow overseas – because food supply diversity alone does not translate to food security for Singapore, with widespread extreme weather events and water crises in food producing countries,” he said.

The ministry has also been restoring mangrove forests in Pulau Tekong and has invested in new technologies such as Wolbachia to help suppress the mosquito population.

Apart from the investment, Zulkifli announced that the Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) will be launching a $10m National Sea Level Research Programme to help develop more robust sea level rise projections.

The ministry will also host a Scoping Meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Singapore in October 2019, he added.