In the article “Nature Group seeks more information on the impact of
Cross Island Line Site Investigations” Neo (2018) stated that crews of nature
lovers are encouraging the public to voice out their concerns towards the Land
Transport Authority (LTA) regarding the drilling works for the future Cross
Island MRT line. The public is anticipating whether LTA would release the whole
process of monitoring programs as “endangered” animals were spotted after site
investigation was completed. The team of nature reserve doubts that LTA did a
great job in the environmental impact assessment as the result was “mainly
moderate” and was unwilling to provide comment nor evidence when asked. The
crews also urged LTA to “provide assurance” and re-emphasize that monitoring
program should continue even if the site investigation ends. They also
highlighted that the monitoring methods and data are the keys to clear the
doubts within the public as the information available was insufficient. Actions
taken by the nature reserve group are understandable to a certain extent. However,
LTA genuinely considered the nature reserve and is trying to provide the finest
plan that benefits both the environment and the public in terms of economic and
habitat losses.
One major factor that LTA has been taking into consideration is the economic
loss in terms of both the commuters and the residents that stay around the
future construction area. In the article “Running under nature reserve the
better option” Hoi (2019) stated that an additional of $2 billion in
miscellaneous costs such as acquiring properties, engineering problems, and
longer commute duration as compared to the direct alignment. In response to
this statement, the government is paying more for a longer route which will
directly affect the commuters as travel fare will increase as well. Also,
residents around the construction area might face noise pollution and forced to
shift house if skirting alignment is accepted. This will create many
inconveniences for elderly residents around the area.
The second factor that plays a huge role in LTA’s decision is nature
reserves in terms of habitat losses. LTA emphasized that they would continue
with their efforts to minimize the environmental impacts that come along with
the construction in the future. Moreover, Hoi (2019) also stated that impacts
are only momentary and “nature will replenish the ecological footprints”. Phase
2 of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which assesses the potential
environmental impact of the construction and operations, as well as the
mitigation measures, declare that all the constructions on land are located out
of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR). The report also stated that in
terms of habitat, installations of fabricated crossing aids such as poles and
rope bridges are designed to lend a hand for the endangered animals. At the
same time, O’ Dempsey, an LTA independent reviewer of the phase 2 EIA stated
that “From an ecology and biodiversity point of view, the two alignment options
are comparable in terms of habitat loss. Both options result in the loss of
nominally 3 hectares of regrowth forest.”
Even though LTA is currently in a tough position as they must appeal to
both the commuters and the nature reserve group request, they are still
welcoming the public to raise their concern towards this project. This has
proven that the LTA is trying their best to please all parties and come out
with the finest solution to cope with the economic and habitat losses.
Word Count: 567
References
Land Transport Authority. (2019, September 2). Cross Island
Line. Retrieved from https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/public-transport/projects/cross-island-line.html
Hoi, P. C. P. (2019, September 6). Running under nature
reserve the better option. The
Straits Time. Retrieved
from https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/running-under-nature-reserve-the-better-option
Neo, C. C. (2018, June 28). Nature group seeks more
information on impact of Cross Island Line site investigations. Todayonline. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/nature-group-seeks-more-information-impact-cross-island-line-site-investigations
Toh, T. W. (2019, September 3). Cross Island Line: Running
under nature reserve or skirting it both feasible, says LTA. The Straits Time. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/cross-island-line-running-under-nature-reserve-or-skirting-it-both-feasible-says
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