Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days
Ms Grace Fu thanking the workers who saved a driver from the sinkhole, Mr Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah (centre) and Mr Ganesan Veerasekar (second from right), on July 29.
Jul 29, 2025
SINGAPORE – The sinkhole that formed in Tanjong Katong Road South should not have happened, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, who apologised for what she described as a serious incident.
“On behalf of the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and PUB, I would like to extend my sincere apology to the injured driver for the injury suffered as well as for going through a harrowing experience,” she told reporters on the evening of July 29.
The sinkhole was located near a PUB construction site for sewer laying works.
Ms Fu, whose ministry oversees PUB, the national water agency, also apologised to members of the public and residents in the vicinity of the sinkhole for the anxiety and unease the incident caused, as well as to motorists and commuters inconvenienced by the road closure and diversion.
She said she has instructed her ministry to form an internal investigation panel to look into what caused the sinkhole. This will take several months.
The panel will comprise very experienced people with various expertise, she added.
She said the panel will also make recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents from happening.
When asked if a reported burst water pipe nearby on July 25 could be linked to the sinkhole occurring the following evening, she said all the available evidence will be studied and the findings reported.
She added that the priority is to reopen the stretch of Tanjong Katong Road South that remains shut, while ensuring public safety.
While many tests have been done to check on the stability of ground conditions, she said motorists and commuters may be inconvenienced “perhaps for a few more days” by the closure of a section of Tanjong Katong Road South between Mountbatten Road and the ECP.
“We are going through a very thorough and rigorous safety assessment, and until we’re satisfied with that, we will not open the road. We will do so when we ascertain that it is safe to do so,” she added.
The authorities are trying to restore that section of road, which caved in on the evening of July 26, swallowing a car and its driver.
The driver escaped
with the help of workers on-site and was taken conscious to hospital. It was previously reported that she was experiencing muscular pains.
Ms Fu said on July 29 that she understands the driver is still recovering in hospital.
On July 27, the badly damaged car was hoisted out of the sinkhole with a crane.
The sinkhole was refilled early on July 28 with liquefied stabilised soil, which is made of soil, cement and water.
Works to test the ground are under way – using a ground-penetrating radar to check that the sinkhole has been completely filled, drilling a long metal rod into the ground to test the material, and scanning the area using sound waves.
PUB had said a
concrete structure, known as a caisson ring, failed at the adjacent PUB worksite around the same time the sinkhole formed at about 5.50pm on July 26.
A caisson ring is a watertight concrete cylinder that is sunk underground to form a stable foundation for other structures.
The reasons for the failure of the caisson ring are still unclear.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said on July 28 that it will carry out an
independent investigation into the sinkhole, which could take a few months to complete.
Ms Fu said PUB will cooperate fully with BCA in its investigation.
She noted that having two teams looking into the incident will help the authorities to determine the causes of the incident in a more thorough and systematic manner.
When asked about complaints from some residents about noise during the recovery works, she said it is a “very fine trade-off” – if work is stopped at night, rectification may not happen as quickly as hoped.
“I hope that the residents will also understand that we want to do this quickly, to stabilise the situation, so that public safety is protected to its maximum,” she added.
Ms Fu later toured the site where the sinkhole occurred and thanked two workers, Mr Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah and Mr Ganesan Veerasekar, who helped to pull the driver to safety.