Govt to delay additional S$1.7b worth of public sector projects

Govt to delay additional S$1.7b worth of public sector projects
Posted: 22 July 2008 1656 hrs

SINGAPORE: The government has decided to postpone an additional S$1.7 billion worth of public sector projects to further ease pressure on construction resources in Singapore.

The government had earlier announced that it would postpone about S$3 billion worth of public sector projects to after 2009.

With the latest decision, the government is deferring a total of about S$4.7 billion worth of public sector construction projects to 2010 and beyond.

The construction of the main building of the proposed Jurong General Hospital will be deferred to 2010, although the hospital will still be completed and open as scheduled by 2015.

Other deferred projects include less urgent improvement works which will not compromise Singapore's strategic and social needs. Public housing building and upgrading programmes are not affected.

"The additional deferment will allow the existing construction capacity and resources to be channelled towards the timely delivery of some big projects such as the integrated resorts, Marina Business Financial Centre and the Downtown MRT Line," said a Building and Construction Authority (BCA) statement.

- CNA/ir

look what happens when there's lack of foresight, or should i say, being too ambitious? the forecast was supposedly good & strong some yrs back, of wanting to make many things happen. sad to say, given the economic slump in slide in recent yrs.... so much has to be put on hold. has any1 considered the domino effect that's gonna affect how many lives n households?

obviously, foreign workers just need to be terminated n sent packing, which is not a big issue. bt what about the myriads of sgporeans who rely on the industry for livelihood??

wat'd happen to all the civil / mechanical / electrical engineers? where'd find their new rice bowls? it wouldnt be necessary for any 1 developer/contract/construction company to provide jobs for the qualified jobless. hence, is it also indirectly telling our local talents to ship out to find their own grass to graze?

anybody to comment on this??

father says 4 mil would be nice..... son says not enough..5-6 mil is the target..
father says casino not a good idea.. son says no worry....sure will bring in more tourist...
u see the difference between the 2 in term of foresight???

i tell you....if father is still in charge.. i think Ah wong would have got the sack liao...still can see him appear on TV meh...

if the father is still in charge, singapore today will be a far better place

Actually, it is not lack of foresight but more of planning with foresight!

I think there are alot more they know that you and I don't. The next 2 years ain't gonna be good inspite of what old man has said. In any case, what do you expect him to say? Bad things? He need to help shore up his son's performance.

With current situation, they will never call for a by-election in Dr Ong Chit Chung's ward. It will be a rout. The feeling not good in the govt's favour. It won't be a case of good or bad opposition but just plain fed-up with high prices.

Come 2010 it will be the next general election. If the economy sinks into recession in 2009-2010, the govt need to inject some action into the economy. All these postponing of projects are for the next election.

Watch the stock market/economy after National Day. After PM gives his state of the union address on National day, watch closely and see the real hint of where we are heading.

Ignore all that ST is reporting about the property sector hitting high and still holding. These are pot shot reporting.

America subprime problem has more or less been exposed. Have you heard about the european banks reporting their subprime exposure? The Insurance companies? Come on, surely they are exposed too.

Wee Cho Yaw was right. It ain't over till another 1-2 years. His is the real warning which prompted the STI to drop a couple of percent. The following day, old man has to come and claimed we are still in our golden era!

suteerak1099 said:

look what happens when there's lack of foresight, or should i say, being too ambitious? the forecast was supposedly good & strong some yrs back, of wanting to make many things happen. sad to say, given the economic slump in slide in recent yrs....

Click to expand...

wahlau said:

..not lack of foresight but more of planning with foresight!
I think there are alot more they know that you and I don't

Click to expand...

Let's try to put this in right perspective. Construction sector actually held up our GDP. Plain to see drain in resources with IR projects 24/7, with phenomenal costs increase (and not just steel) for other lesser projects.

Forecast is as good as yesterday. Daresay most bother about today and guess estimate tomorrow. Know of any of those economic czars or analysts who were taken to task for previous forecasts (not just GDP, also stocks, commodities)? Put it to "discretionary" freedom in forecasting.

We shd address changing realities in macros, and have the balls to change tack.

10 July news feed:
The construction sector is estimated to have grown by a robust 15.2 per cent in the second quarter, following a 16.9 per cent expansion in the previous quarter.

"Construction growth has been propping up GDP growth, leaving the economy vulnerable to downward shift in construction. Also concerned about FDI coming into Singapore due to strengthened Singapore dollar," said Leon Perera, Group MD of Spire Research & Consultancy.

Big Sexy said:

father says 4 mil would be nice..... son says not enough..5-6 mil is the target..
father says casino not a good idea.. son says no worry....sure will bring in more tourist...
u see the difference between the 2 in term of foresight???

i tell you....if father is still in charge.. i think Ah wong would have got the sack liao...still can see him appear on TV meh...

Click to expand...

maybe ah wong won't be walking alone. surely the few clowns down the chain also will have their heads rolling.

yinyang said:

Let's try to put this in right perspective. Construction sector actually held up our GDP. Plain to see drain in resources with IR projects 24/7, with phenomenal costs increase (and not just steel) for other lesser projects.

Forecast is as good as yesterday. Daresay most bother about today and guess estimate tomorrow. Know of any of those economic czars or analysts who were taken to task for previous forecasts (not just GDP, also stocks, commodities)? Put it to "discretionary" freedom in forecasting.

We shd address changing realities in macros, and have the balls to change tack.

10 July news feed:
The construction sector is estimated to have grown by a robust 15.2 per cent in the second quarter, following a 16.9 per cent expansion in the previous quarter.

"Construction growth has been propping up GDP growth, leaving the economy vulnerable to downward shift in construction. Also concerned about FDI coming into Singapore due to strengthened Singapore dollar," said Leon Perera, Group MD of Spire Research & Consultancy.

Click to expand...

nice thoughts. well, from wat i gather so far, if there's a stand-still for the construction industry for public sector projects... it'd only mean there's more fighting for a slice of the pie for private developments. hence, accelerating the downward spiral, as the price wars becomes more aggressive. besides, with not as many projects moving, it'd also mean alot contruction companies who arent awarded would be swatting flies in the meantime.

along the way, i'd speculate that some of the contruction companies possibly would fold up along the way, nt necesasrily survival of the fittest, bt survival of the cheapest. when construction companies fold, or when threats start to surface, only few possibilities. fold & bail out or perhaps we'll be witnessing mergers (when companies merge, manpower also chopped)... probably history will repeat itself (as seen some 7yrs back in the financial sector).

down the rd, co-related industries would also suffer in lieu of the less lucrative/lustrous building industry. of cos, foreign workers r easy to dismiss. sad to say, its the citizens that suffer in such trying times.

time to tighten the belt, tighten the pocket strings, fasten seat belts & get ready for the perfect storm.

Government taking calculated risk by deferring construction projects
NTUC chief concerned global economy heading towards stagflation

From my point of view, opportunity to get a piece of this pie has been delayed.

Imagine, say 0.1% of this money going to the entertainment sector ie. KTV/Nightclubs that's $1.7m being delayed in channeling to the entertainment sector!!

Public projects are delayed bcos of the squeeze on resources. Salary and materials are up. If the govt continue with the projects and put more pressure on the cost .... those that already have projects will lose money if they are losing already .... and with the slowdown in building the NUS hostels ofr youth olympic ... the govt are relieving more upward cost pressures ... this should be commended. Those are employed in this industry are fully employed ....

eventually if government kana the pressure..the civilian will be the first to suffer..

gambler said:

Public projects are delayed bcos of the squeeze on resources. Salary and materials are up. If the govt continue with the projects and put more pressure on the cost .... those that already have projects will lose money if they are losing already .... and with the slowdown in building the NUS hostels ofr youth olympic ... the govt are relieving more upward cost pressures ... this should be commended. Those are employed in this industry are fully employed ....

Click to expand...

dear fren, in conclusion... shouldnt it also sum up as poor foresight & town planning? in the last GE, they promised so many things, as if developments are like building monopoly houses/hotels, or like play dough...

to date, is it nt apparent enough that they did not take reservations/buffer into considerations, before all the CGI graphic displays of an impressionist's version of punggol 21, the new marina south park, the new sports arena, the 2 IRs... etc? at the end of the day, was it nt just a mirage that gave our ppl false hope n a major disappointment now?

a slight dent in any of the industries in sg will affect many ppl's livelihood.
if building n construction industry slow down means, many construction companies go into bad debts (cos their equipments r usually hire-purchased), many sub-contractors (plumbing, electrical, stuctures, carpentry, glass clading/ facade) also start digging into their own pockets for survival, material suppliers who stockpile materials will also be running into bad debts since their goods are mostly purchased on credit terms, material distributors start begging for extension on credit terms from wholesalers.... n the whole comino effect just escalates like a major tsunami....

when such a thing happen, companies start folding, small fishes die, big fishes slim down... the foreign laborers offloaded & sent home is just a small issue, but many engineers - civil, structure, electrical, chemical... etc their ricebowls dont break... but shatter into smitherins...

the olympic committee that granted them the youth olympic must be feeling been screwed big time by the gov...they make so many rosy promises but now even the hostel for the olympians are not build...

Frankiestine said:

the olympic committee that granted them the youth olympic must be feeling been screwed big time by the gov...they make so many rosy promises but now even the hostel for the olympians are not build...

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what's new? its been a standard practice to screw our own ppl, no surprises that others get screwed too. roti prata is wat they do best.

decades back, they promised to make sg an arts & design hub in asia.... to date, nothing much bt the halved durians called esplanade, while there're plenty of starving artistes out there. the arts & designs schools sprouted 1 after another, but when students graduate, insufficient jobs available.

b4 they even fulfill their early promises made, they moved the cheeze, now focussing on manufacturing - which still is a disadvantaged compared to neighboring countries as well as the world factory (aka china)

alota hoo-haa & talks about punggol 21 etc, to date, its still a big patch of lallang, while the wreaking stench of wat used to be a dumping ground still lingering in the air

they boasted of perfectly potable nu-water back into the taps, which wont cos side effects, eventually saw many prize winning lohan & arowana reporting to the hades.

nea & rov go round the island issuing tickets to vehicles emitting carbon/smoke. while they 4get to check their own mandai crematorium + sembawang inceneration center emitting more carbon/smoke in any given span of 12hrs.

for them to screw the olympics commitee... didnt come to me as a surprise la. i already anticipated the blunder when they decided to bid for the youth olympics. the bottlenecking of projects already made it ridiculous. bt as usual, they stop at nothing.