The Straits Times, 16 March 2002

Greenies, golfers in tiff over Kranji course
Cooperation talks on the impact of Safra's 18-hole golf course on the environment fail to take off

IT WAS to have been a new start in cooperation between the greenies and the golfers, with the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS) working with Safra on an environmental study for the latter's new 18-hole course in Kranji. But the cooperation never materialised, the NSS now claims.
Two meetings and several e-mail messages later, the society said its request for copies of the course design and an environmental study of the area was rejected.
They first asked for both last December, said the NSS conservation committee chairman, Dr Ho Hua Chew.
'To date, we are still in the dark about the design plan for the project and the mitigation measures that are to be implemented to avert any serious impact on the marshland habitat and its wildlife, in particular the birdlife,' he said yesterday.
So, his group has opted to go public with its feedback on the planned course, after conducting its own survey of the birdlife in the area, between last December and January this year.
It wants the developer and planning authorities to consider moving the course 200 m inland from the Kranji reservoir waterline, to protect the marshes - valuable feeding grounds for herons and other birds. This, despite Safra returning to the Government, on its own accord, eight of the 72 ha it was given for the course, to create a buffer.
Dr Ho said: 'Our survey shows the 8 ha won't be enough, so we hope the authorities will consider giving Safra more land further inland if necessary.'
Two other areas bordering the course have also been identified as being valuable to the more than 90 species of birds living in the marshland.
The society wants Safra to integrate these two smaller sites into the design of the golf course, so the plots' vegetation does not have to be cleared or the ponds filled in.
Aside from conservation proposals, the 15-page report also contains suggestions to reduce the impact on the vegetation and wildlife during the construction and operation of the course.
It said: 'The proposals formulated are important not only for the protection of the uncommon, rare or threatened species of birdlife, but also for the general protection of a fast diminishing habitat.'
A spokesman for the National Service Resort Country Club, which will manage the course, said it had no comment on the NSS allegations or report at this time.
Conservationists said they hope the breakdown in talks will not be a major setback to opening dialogue on green issues.

by Dominic Nathan

Forum, The Straits Times, 23 March 2002

Is Country Club keeping to 'green' pledge?

Dear Editor,

I refer to your article, "Greenies, golfers in tiff over Kranji course", (ST, March 16).
I would like to point out that on a visit to the area of concern yesterday, the Nature Society noticed that earth work by the National Service Resort Country Club (NSRCC) has been started some time ago.
Tractors have already cleared a large chunk of the woods and marshy ground close to the zoo's tree farm and to the northwest of the BBC Station.
The earthwork is eating into the area marked out by the Nature Society as worthy of being integrated into the golf-course design plan.
Is NSRCC merely stockpiling earth before planning the course design (as we were earlier informed by telephone)?
Or is it proceeding full swing with the landfill operation?
If it is merely in the process of stock-piling earth, why is it tearing down and filling up a large swathe of the woods and marshes?
If it is already in the process of landfill stage, has NSRCC figured out the design or plan for the course?
We hope that NSRCC is not going full steam ahead, to flatten the area first and then design from scratch on a blank slate. For that wouldn't be ecological, as NSRCC has proclaimed it would be.

Dr. Ho Hua Chew
Chairman, Conservation Committee
Nature Society (Singapore)

Today Newspaper, 29 March 2002

Golf course battle moves to trees

While the Nature Society of Singapore tries to rescue a marsh in Kranji where the National Service Resort Country Club (NSRCC) golf course is planned, a new controversy has broken out.
Has the NSRCC already started chopping down trees, even though designer and building contracts have not been awarded yet?
On Tuesday, an NSRCC spokesperson told this newspaper that no trees had been chopped down yet but they had begun stockpiling the earth in readiness for construction.
Dr Ho Hua Chew, chairman of the NSS Conservation Committee, claims that trees had indeed been felled and released a photograph (right) to back his claim. He wants the felling halted until an ecological solution is worked out.
The Nature society says that the marsh is home to a quarter of bird species in Singapore.
Mr Patrick Li, a Reader, added his voice to the controversy by writing to TODAY that he saw plants being uprooted in the area, disturbing the egrets roosting there.
When contacted again, the NSRCC spokesperson said it was inevitable that some shrubs and trees would be cleared during stockpiling. She said no landfill operation had started yet and the stockpiling area did not encroach on areas of concern to the NSS.
The NSS is urging the NSRCC to consider an alternative site . Apart from Kranji, it was offered three other options but rejected them.
"The Choa Chu Kang Area is an army training plot and therefore could not be used. The Ama Keng area is too swampy and the area south of Tengah Air Base is in the flight path of low-flying jets operating from Tengah Air Base," the spokesperson told TODAY.
Dr Ho wants these options explored further.

by Joy Francis

Today" Newspaper, 08 April 2002

Reconsider golf course plan at Kranji marsh

The National Service Recreation and Country Club's plan to construct a golf course at Kranji marsh (a "Green Area" in the Singapore Green Plan 1993 should be home to some uncommon, near-threatened and/or threatened bird species).
This must be reconsidered and Singapore's commitment to the Rio Bio-diversity Convention (1992) should be honoured.
The club was offered three sites for the golf course, which it turned down.
I would urge it to reconsider.
We owe it to future generations to take care of nature areas.
Who are we to decide that Singaporeans of the future will not treasure the Kranji marsh, home to at least 93 species of birds? Let the club choose an alternative site as the least destructive solution.
As a Singaporean, I would like to believe that there are plenty of NSmen who will take pride in making the effort to protect our own little remnants of green areas.

June-Marie Lin