SINGAPORE - By early 2016, Bukit Batok residents will have another place to gather, when a 230m stretch of the canal in the neighbourhood is spruced up with gardens and seats. The groundbreaking ceremony, which marks the start of the makeover, was officiated on Saturday morning by Dr Amy Khor, who is an MP of the area.

The year-long project costs $400,000 and part of national water agency PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) programme. The stretch of the Bukit Batok Canal that will be converted into a communal space is located between Bukit Batok West Avenue 2 and 4.

Currently, there is grass growing along the canal, but there are no seats or green features. But with the upgrade, residents can expect rain gardens - patches of green that promote biodiversity and clean rain water, creepers on canal walls, and seats made of timber.

PUB's chief sustainability officer Tan Nguan Sen said: "ABC Waters @ Bukit Batok Canal aims to create a community waterscape, conducive for residents to get together and bond by the waterway. There is also an opportunity for schools in the vicinity to use the site to learn how specially selected plants can cleanse water naturally and enhance biodiversity."

The Bukit Batok Canal makeover is the first of three other ABC Waters projects that are expected to commence this year. Construction is also expected to take place at two sections of the Kallang River and at Sungei Bedok.