Sustainability and connectivity were the watchwords for the Ministry of Transport (MOT), the Ministry of National Development (MND) and the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) in their addenda to the President's Address, which were announced on Aug. 27.

In addition to maintaining Singapore as a global and regional hub, the ministries pledged to continue the push for Singapore to remain inclusive and sustainable as it develops.

MOT: Maintaining status as a transport hub

Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung touched on the impact that Covid-19 has had on Singapore's air connectivity — Changi Airport has lost 50 per cent of its air links, and over 95 per cent of its scheduled passenger services.

Singapore has already restarted some transit air services, said Ong and the revival of the air hub in a safe manner will be a top priority.

MOT is also taking the opportunity to use the downtime to revamp the aviation infrastructure by developing a "three-runway system", and reviewing the layout and design of the upcoming Changi Terminal 5.

The maritime industry, on the other hand, has remained "relatively resilient" said the Transport Minister. MOT is investing in the maritime sector, with Tuas Port on track to be completed in the 2040s.

The transport ministry is also stepping its digitalisation efforts to streamline port clearances, enable just-in-time vessel operations at the port, and standardise and enhance flows of vessel data across ports globally.

Links with Malaysia will also be improved with the implementation of the High-Speed Rail and RTS Link projects.

Public transport in Singapore

The Land Transport Authority's (LTA) goal is to keep work commutes to 45 minutes and below and 20 minutes withnin residential towns to reach amenities. To that end, Ong said that his ministry will strive to ensure that public transport stays reliable and affordable.

Over the past five years, the Mean Kilometres Between Failure of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system has been improved from 130,000 to one million.

New stations and lines will be opening "almost every year", starting with the remaining stations along the Thomson-East Coast Line, and the Jurong Region and Cross-Island Lines. The network will grow from 230km to 360km by then.

MOT will also work with the Public Transport Council to better support passengers with mobility challenges. Ong said:

"Expanding the public transport system to better serve Singaporeans requires major infrastructure and recurrent expenditure. But this is essential public spending, which has to be carried out with financial prudence."

MND: Making housing more affordable and sustainable

Minister of National Development Desmond Lee noted that Covid-19 has "significantly impacted our lives and livelihoods", and recognised that some of these changes may be permanent structural shifts.

He emphasised he importance of being responsive and agile in tackling these challenges going forward.

Lee also highlighted how MND will continue to make Singapore more sustainable and livable for Singaporeans today and in the future.

This will take the form of the following:

• Supporting the construction sector: This includes helping the sector to restart work safely and smoothly as soon as possible, which in turn minimises delays to BTO flats. The ministry will help the sector improve its productivity via advanced building technologies.
• Taking care of Singaporeans' housing needs: The ministry will seek to assist households who are facing difficulties with housing payments while ensuring that public housing remains affordable.
• Upgrading and developing estates: Older HDB towns will be progressively redeveloped through the major Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme. HDB towns and estates will be planned and designed to better support the physical and mental well-being oif all residents.

Lee also mentioned at length about islandwide greening efforts, which include:

• Having more nature parks, and protecting nature reserves,
• Greening 80 per cent of buildings by 2030,
• Designing new HDB towns with plenty of green spaces,
• Reducing energy consumption in HDB towns by 15 per cent by 2030.

MSE: S'pore as a sustainable circular economy

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said that it will push for a climate-resilient future with a focus on water and food security, as Singapore prepares for a new future caused by Covid-19.

To achieve that, MSE will do the following:

• Strengthening Singapore's environmental public health resilience: This includes better environment sanitation controls and upgrading public health infrastructure in hawker centres and coffee shops.
• Accelerating local food production:  The goal is to meet 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs with locally produced food by 2030. This will be done via over the next six to 24 months via the 30x30 Express grant, which will support those in the local agri-food industry. More spaces will be unlocked for land and sea-based farming as well.
• Support for talent: Scholarships would be offered to those in areas of climate adaption and climate science. The $50 million SG Eco Fund will be launched to support projects on environmental sustainability.

The ministry is also looking to realise a circular economy, to minimise waste and push Singapore closer to being a zero-waste nation.

This will be done via the following measures:

• Development of Tuas Nexus: The facility not only manages waste, but it can also undertake water treatment processes and generate electricity and generate sufficient solar energy to power all local waterworks by 2021.
• Investing in water management and conservation: This includes expanding the Changi NEWater Factory and rolling out smart meters in 300,000 premises by 2023. MSE aims to reduce household water consumption to 130 litres per capita per day by 2030.
• Transforming and minimising waste, with NEWSand, where waste treatment residue would be transformed into construction materials, and NEWOil, where discarded plastics transforming discarded plastics into an alternative fuel).

New jobs will also be created as a result. MSE expects over 55,000 jobs to be created over the next 10 years, including skilled jobs in the high-tech agriculture and aquaculture industry, and roles such as Food Hygiene Officers (FHOs), advanced FHOs and Environmental Control Officers.

More jobs will also be created for the government's enhanced dengue management efforts as well.

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Top image via Jewel Changi Airport's website