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Dr Balakrishnan: PUB should not have used word 'ponding' for floods
The Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources has stepped up checks on drains and canals here during the North-east monsoon season, said Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan as Parliament resumed on Monday afternoon.
Dr Balakrishnan said during the Parliament session that the ministry checked the Stamford Canal and nearby drains after the Lucky Plaza and Liat Towers floods in December, and found no signs of blockage.
He said national water agency PUB should not have called the phenomenon at the water-logged areas 'ponding'. He added: 'As far as I am concerned, PUB should not have not used the word 'ponding'. I call a spade a spade. A flood is a flood.'He attributed the incident to unprecedented, intense rain, and said engineers had calculated that the capacity of Stamford Canal would need to be increased by 30 per cent to handle the floods in the past two years. In the short term, the ministry will work with the affected businesses to come up with measures to protect them, he said.
The Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources has stepped up checks on drains and canals here during the North-east monsoon season, said Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan as Parliament resumed on Monday afternoon.
Dr Balakrishnan said during the Parliament session that the ministry checked the Stamford Canal and nearby drains after the Lucky Plaza and Liat Towers floods in December, and found no signs of blockage.
He said national water agency PUB should not have called the phenomenon at the water-logged areas 'ponding'. He added: 'As far as I am concerned, PUB should not have not used the word 'ponding'. I call a spade a spade. A flood is a flood.'He attributed the incident to unprecedented, intense rain, and said engineers had calculated that the capacity of Stamford Canal would need to be increased by 30 per cent to handle the floods in the past two years. In the short term, the ministry will work with the affected businesses to come up with measures to protect them, he said.
