Forum: Housing a priority amid land constraints
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Singapore is unfortunately a small island of only about 730 sq km. Hence we cannot have the best of both worlds – saving the forests and building more HDB flats (Clearing of forests to build flats seems to go against Green Plan targets, Dec 5).
Building fewer flats means aspiring young couples would have to wait longer for Build-To-Order units, while saving the forests would please environmentalists at the expense of flat buyers.
Given Singapore’s land constraints, I think housing would come first.
For our economy to grow, we must increase our population and that means the priority is to ensure eligible Singaporeans own a flat as an asset.
In making the hard decision to deforest land, policymakers do make the effort to study the impact on flora and fauna habitats in their planning and development.
This is a tough job, one which also needs to consider the feedback received.
Government agencies, nature interest groups and environmental agencies must look at issues holistically and weigh the pros and cons of implementing national policies.
Richard Cheng
