Bishan Park to get a river by 2011

$76 million project is part of masterplan to turn waterways into venues for recreation

Come 2011, children celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival will be able to carry lanterns along a 3km river running through Bishan Park.

In launching Singapore's first river relocation project at the park yesterday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong asked residents to care for the waterway.

The river is the first of its kind in Singapore, he said.

It is created by diverting the Kallang drainage canal through the park, and reforming it from concrete waterway to winding river.

PM Lee urged residents: 'When it rains in the estates, that bit of litter, plastic bag or cigarette butt which you just dropped will be washed into the drains, the streams, the canals, into the river and the reservoir and finally PUB will have to spend money to pick it up and clean up the water before you can drink it.'

The $76 million Bishan Park project is part of a masterplan launched in 2006 to transform Singapore's 15 reservoirs, 32 major rivers and 7,000km of waterways into beautiful spaces for recreation.

By 2011, 28 projects islandwide will be completed.

Four are ready. They are popular venues for recreational activities and community events, he told some 200 residents.

For instance, the Marina Barrage, opened in October last year, has been enjoyed by more than half a million visitors.

Soon, people will also enjoy the revamped Bishan Park which will feature a river promenade and spaces for quiet relaxation or exercise.

Planners for the revamped park are are Public Utilities Board and National Parks Board.

There will be three new playgrounds - an adventure playground for active teenagers, a sand playground for young children, and a water playground.

Wildlife enthusiasts can look out for frogs and fish or visit a dra-gonfly pond - or watch for special plants planted along the river banks, which will cleanse the flowing water.

PM Lee said he hoped youth and community groups across the island will be involved in caring for parks and waters. They can host activities to get people closer to the water to enjoy it, and spread the message of environmental protection, he suggested.

PM Lee, an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, also watched Chinese song and dance performances and mingled with residents at Teck Ghee's annual Lantern Night in the park.

Source: Sunday Times, 4 Oct 2009