SINGAPORE : Nature lovers can look forward to a greener Garden
City when Singapore gets a second national botanical gardens in the
new Downtown at Marina Bay.
The National Development Ministry says Marina Bay will be the key
focus of its in the coming years, with some S$300 million set aside
for infrastructure and facilities.
Among the major developments will be a waterfront promenade and a
connecting bridge to Marina Centre, which when completed by the
year 2008 will create a continuous loop around the entire
bay.
An anchor attraction at the new downtown will be the second
botanical gardens.
The existing Botanic Gardens will focus on botanical collections
and research, while the new one will have mass floral displays and
creative plant-based 'edutainment'.
It is also expected to have an iconic conservatory of cool tropical
and temperate plants.
Nature Society president Dr Geh Min is excited by the idea of the
new gardens and is particularly enthusiastic about its
location.
Dr Geh said, "I hope it will be not just a green space or green
lung, but a blue-green space where you can enjoy sea views, enjoy
the sea breeze, look out to the horizon. So I hope this new botanic
gardens will not be a built up artificial type of garden with a lot
of concrete; it will be a refuge an oasis for people who work or
live in the city."
There are also plans for a biennial Singapore Tropical Garden Show
at the new gardens with international floral and landscape displays
and trade exhibits.
The ministry says promoting a green Singapore will extend to the
heartlands, with community gardening set to blossom in more private
estates and even some public ones.
And Singapore's reputation as a shopping paradise will be also
given a boost with plans to rejuvenate Orchard Road with two new
retail sites at the junctions with Killiney Road and Paterson
Road.
As for HDB residents, they can look forward to more lift upgrading,
greater flexibility in the use of their flats and private sector
participation in the design and development of public
housing.
Food safety and supply is also set to improve as the Agri-Food and
Veterinary Authority strengthens its safety system for both local
and imported food with the new Veterinary Public Health
Centre.
AVA will also approve and accredit more new food sources to allow
the market to respond quickly to sudden supply shortfalls because
of disease or bans. - CNA
Read the Ministry of National Development's Addendum to the
President's Address. - CNA