SINGAPORE'S sleepy rivers and reservoirs are to get a multi- million-dollar makeover to make them buzz with watersports and other recreational activities.
Boardwalks, riverfront viewing galleries and lush layers of green will beautify most of Singapore's 14 reservoirs and 32 rivers as part of the Public Utilities Board's Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters (ABC) programme.
In the first phase of the project, the PUB will spend $23 million over the next two years to upgrade Bedok and MacRitchie reservoirs and a stretch of Kallang River at Kolam Ayer, the PUB said yesterday.
Other water bodies earmarked for development at a later stage include Pandan Reservoir, Jurong Lake, Sungei Punggol, Sungei Serangoon and Sungei Bedok. Funds for the subsequent phases of the programme will be announced later.
At a seminar yesterday, PUB chief executive Khoo Teng Chye urged design, landscape and property management companies to offer proposals to 'better integrate water bodies into the urban landscape'.
The PUB will amend the current codes of practice for drainage to allow builders more leeway to make creative use of water in urban design.
'As long as the drainage needs are fulfilled, building professionals will be free to develop ideas that are creative,' said Mr Khoo. Details of the amendments will be released later.
Some creative ideas that are already part of the Singapore landscape include fountains that add life to a stagnant monsoon drain on the Temasek Polytechnic campus, and the use of mangroves to beautify the concrete banks of Sungei Api Api in Pasir Ris.
The PUB will also marshal the services of private consultants, and other government agencies such as the National Parks Board (NParks) and Housing & Development Board, to help flesh out some of the beautification plans.
Yesterday, it appointed private consultants CH2M Hill and CPG Consultants to devise and implement beautification projects in the central and eastern catchment areas.
One of the biggest projects on the drawing board is based on the Kallang River Masterplan, which seeks to transform the face of Singapore's longest river.
The project was conceived by the NParks as part of an inter-agency endeavour to make Singapore clean and green. The 10km river has been divided into three zones, each of which will have a different landscaping theme, said NParks landscape architect Damian Tang.
The historic downtown Kampong Bugis area, where the river meets the sea, could be the focus of riverside heritage walks in which visitors relive the experience of the Biduanda Orang Kallang, an indigenous fishing community that occupied the area in the 18th century.
Other parts of the river bank may be decked in greenery, or transformed into trendy waterside eateries. CH2M Hill will study the masterplan to see how best to implement it.
Water bodies on Singapore's north-east eastern shores are also in for a transformation.
CPG Consultants is working on plans to dam the lower courses of the Punggol and Serangoon rivers and form an interconnected 10km-long waterway, said executive vice-president Peter How.
'The plan is to develop watersports and other recreational activities in the area,' he said.
