Govt stance on granite stockpile still solid
By Lim Wei Chean
ROCK HOARD: In land-scarce Singapore, says the National Development
Ministry, 'it is important for coexistence of different land uses
on adjacent land plots'. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
THE Kranji farmers have made their strong plea for a granite
stockpile to not be located there.
Now, in response, the Government has explained that it is of
strategic importance for Singapore to have its own supply of key
construction material.
In land-scarce Singapore, 'it is important for coexistence of
different land uses on adjacent land plots', a Ministry of National
Development statement said yesterday.
The intended site off Neo Tiew Road, according to the Kranji
farmers' reckoning, is the size of 20 soccer pitches.
News first surfaced in May that a granite stockpile would be built
in rustic Lim Chu Kang, which has more than 100 farmers. Urban
visitors flock there on weekends.
About 10 farmers had banded together in 2005 to form the Kranji
Countryside Association to promote the area. The association now
has around 20 members.
It argued that a stockpile there, along with trucks regularly
ferrying in granite, would hurt the farms and despoil the
area.
On Oct 9, it sent a petition to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with
more than 1,000 signatures in a bid to 'save Singapore's
countryside'.
Yesterday, the ministry's spokesman explained that the recent
Indonesian sand ban and granite restrictions illustrated the
strategic importance of a local stockpile.
Also, the land is listed as a 'reserve' site, meaning there is no
fixed use for this land for the next 15 to 20 years.
The spokesman reassured the farmers that the ministry has a
programme to monitor the water and soil conditions in the area. It
will ensure that disruptions are minimised.
But Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim, the association's president, was not
placated.
She insisted that the same arguments were being trotted out by the
ministry.
She said: 'I
would like to invite the Prime Minister down on a weekend to see
the hundreds of children and families here. If, after that, he can
still say that the stockpile here is the right thing to do, then I
shall accept it.'
An open invitation to the PM. Will he even go? 
