Seems like it has been a perennial problem for our government to be caught off guard time and again despite having the highest paid civil servants in the world. The latest is PUB CEO Khoo Teng Chye admitting that his agency was caught off guard in Orchard Rd flood. So $2 billion investment to upgrade our drainage infrastructure had literally gone down the drain becos our civil servants have slacken on their job. With guaranteed bonuses year after year, the fat cats in the civil servants are getting more and more complacent, and are only interested in serving their political masters' agenda. So now after excuses are given, will any head rolls? Knowing the present government, I doubt so. 
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1064146/1/.html
PUB chief executive says water agency caught off guard in Orchard Rd flood
By Claire Huang | Posted: 18 June 2010 1747 hrs
SINGAPORE : The Chief Executive of Singapore's national water agency, PUB, has acknowledged that his agency was caught off guard by the Orchard Road flood on Wednesday.
Khoo Teng Chye told a media conference on Friday that PUB takes a "serious view" of the incident.
During the downpour on June 16, one of the hotspots PUB was monitoring closely was the Bukit Timah area, which experienced massive flooding in November last year.
But PUB did not realise there were problems at Stamford Canal.
A culvert that was heavily blocked by debris then triggered the flooding of Orchard Road.
It has now declared the area a new flood hotspot.
PUB said it takes a serious view of the floods, especially in the Orchard Road area.
"The impact on people, businesses and traffic is something that we view as not acceptable. We've done our initial investigations; it was due to a combination of very unusually intense double-peaked rainstorms that were aggravated by the flow of debris that partially obstructed the culvert," said Khoo.
Asked if a lack of maintenance could have contributed to the clogged drains, Khoo believes there was a combination of factors.
"Even if we have very well-maintained drains... given the amount of rain that fell on that day - as I said, it's 60 Olympic-sized pools - I think it would have washed down into the culverts huge amounts of debris," said Khoo.
PUB said over the last 30 years, it has invested S$2 billion to upgrade Singapore's drainage infrastructure. This has helped to reduce the country's flood-prone areas from 3,200 hectares to some 66 hectares currently.
It added that it will invest S$150 million each year for the next five years on upgrading works.
Khoo said: "On the maintenance front, we've doubled our expenditure in the last three years to S$23 million a year. We put our contractors on a performance-based system. We extended their contract from three years to five years, encouraging them to invest in new technology.
"In fact, everyday, we have about 400 staff from the contractors and from PUB making sure that all our drains are well-maintained."
PUB said it will continue to investigate and improve the current system to prevent similar flooding. And it's doing its best to review what had happened.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1064146/1/.html
PUB chief executive says water agency caught off guard in Orchard Rd flood
By Claire Huang | Posted: 18 June 2010 1747 hrs
SINGAPORE : The Chief Executive of Singapore's national water agency, PUB, has acknowledged that his agency was caught off guard by the Orchard Road flood on Wednesday.
Khoo Teng Chye told a media conference on Friday that PUB takes a "serious view" of the incident.
During the downpour on June 16, one of the hotspots PUB was monitoring closely was the Bukit Timah area, which experienced massive flooding in November last year.
But PUB did not realise there were problems at Stamford Canal.
A culvert that was heavily blocked by debris then triggered the flooding of Orchard Road.
It has now declared the area a new flood hotspot.
PUB said it takes a serious view of the floods, especially in the Orchard Road area.
"The impact on people, businesses and traffic is something that we view as not acceptable. We've done our initial investigations; it was due to a combination of very unusually intense double-peaked rainstorms that were aggravated by the flow of debris that partially obstructed the culvert," said Khoo.
Asked if a lack of maintenance could have contributed to the clogged drains, Khoo believes there was a combination of factors.
"Even if we have very well-maintained drains... given the amount of rain that fell on that day - as I said, it's 60 Olympic-sized pools - I think it would have washed down into the culverts huge amounts of debris," said Khoo.
PUB said over the last 30 years, it has invested S$2 billion to upgrade Singapore's drainage infrastructure. This has helped to reduce the country's flood-prone areas from 3,200 hectares to some 66 hectares currently.
It added that it will invest S$150 million each year for the next five years on upgrading works.
Khoo said: "On the maintenance front, we've doubled our expenditure in the last three years to S$23 million a year. We put our contractors on a performance-based system. We extended their contract from three years to five years, encouraging them to invest in new technology.
"In fact, everyday, we have about 400 staff from the contractors and from PUB making sure that all our drains are well-maintained."
PUB said it will continue to investigate and improve the current system to prevent similar flooding. And it's doing its best to review what had happened.
