Green lungs to quell floods

Letter from Liew Kai Khiun, TODAY, 8 Jun 2011.

IT SEEMS certain that the islandwide floods are getting more routine as last year’s images of submerged roads, water-choked basement car parks and ankle-deep waters in malls returned to haunt us on Sunday morning.

In spite of the extensive drainage work undertaken over the decades, the authorities have conceded that no amount of preparation can stop such freak floods that are attributed predominantly to global warming and “acts of nature”.

Nonetheless, I would also like to draw a correlation between the floods and the high growth rates of the past few years, rapid urbanisation resulting from the property boom and the spike in population. Hence, the problems are not only global and natural but also local and man-made. Read more