MND deputy secretary Tan Meng Dui to be new NEA chief executive from Oct 2
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Mr Tan Meng Dui (left) will succeed Mr Ronnie Tay (right) as the National Environment Agency's chief executive officer on Oct 2, 2018.
PHOTOS: NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, JURONG PORT
Ng Huiwen
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SINGAPORE - The National Environment Agency (NEA) will get a new chief executive officer from Oct 2, with incumbent Ronnie Tay retiring after five years at the helm.
Mr Tay will be succeeded by Mr Tan Meng Dui, 50, who is currently the deputy secretary (development) at the Ministry of National Development.
In a statement on Tuesday (Aug 21), the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) thanked Mr Tay, 54, for his contributions since he took on the role at NEA on July 1, 2013. NEA is a statutory board under the ministry.
Under Mr Tay's leadership, NEA made significant achievements in reviewing key policies and building new capabilities, the statement said.
The agency has also rolled out new programmes to ensure that Singapore's environment remains clean and sustainable, the statement added.
Mr Tay was at the helm when NEA successfully managed the dengue and Zika outbreaks in Singapore.
He oversaw the development of innovative measures to fight dengue, such as leveraging data from Gravitraps and embarking on trials using the novel Wolbachia technology.
Beyond that, he drove the development of waste management infrastructure, including planning for new waste-to-energy plants, and led various initiatives to address food waste, e-waste and packaging waste.
He also played a key role in managing transboundary haze, with the enactment of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014.
During his tenure, higher emission standards for industry, vehicles and motorcycles were also implemented.
Mr Tay also steered the development of 20 new hawker centres and the Hawker 3.0 Masterplan, as well as the infrastructure for after-death services.
His replacement, Mr Tan, graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) First Class Honours from the University of London, Imperial College of Science and Technology, in 1989.
Mr Tan went on to obtain a master's in public administration from United States' Harvard University in 2001.
He was previously the deputy secretary (technology) at the Ministry of Defence headquarters and held the rank of brigadier-general in the Singapore Armed Forces.
In 2006, he was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) (Military). He received the Long Service Medal (Military) in 2011.
From April 1 next year, all food-related work currently under the NEA will come under the new Singapore Food Agency. This includes issues involving food hygiene.
About 220 staff members from NEA will be affected by the reorganisation.
