GE2025: Sustainability a key pillar of PAP’s plans for West Coast-Jurong West GRC, says Desmond Lee
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National Development Minister Desmond Lee is the anchor minister for the PAP team contesting West Coast-Jurong West GRC.
ST PHOTO: HESTER TAN
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SINGAPORE – The heavily industrialised western parts of Singapore, often associated with factories and other manufacturing infrastructure, will get an infusion of nature and culture if the PAP candidates for West Coast-Jurong West GRC are elected.
This could include programmes to involve residents in nature appreciation or tree-planting, or grassroots sustainability initiatives such as e-waste recycling schemes or detergent refill stations.
There will also be more schemes to boost community gardening, and “green markets” that will bring residents together to buy and sell local produce or pre-loved items.
As for culture, the intention is to imbue West Coast Park with more of the area’s history, with enhancement plans transforming it into a “destination park”. Such parks are large, regional parks with thematic identities and unique features to attract visitors from all over Singapore.
The plans were laid out by National Development Minister Desmond Lee on April 28, in an interview with The Straits Times ahead of his visits to constituents’ homes.
Mr Lee is the anchor minister for the PAP team contesting West Coast-Jurong West GRC.
The sustainability initiatives make up one of nine pillars of a plan that Mr Lee’s team has developed for the group representation constituency. The others include initiatives to help residents cope with rising costs of living, aid job seekers in their search for good jobs, empower young people and those with disabilities, and support seniors in their old age.
The overarching plan for the GRC had been announced in a press conference PAP would once again face the opposition PSP at the polls.
The PAP team in West Coast-Jurong West GRC on April 25 detailed its plans to help residents cope with cost of living and job security concerns.
He acknowledged that sustainability issues have not been discussed during the hustings, as voters have many other bread-and-butter concerns.
“There are many pressing issues that we need to address. People are concerned about issues like cost of living, job security, healthcare, transport, housing,” Mr Lee said.
“But some things, like climate change, are existential. And it may not be on people’s minds for the GE, but I think it deserves to be kept in the public consciousness.”
Repeating a point he made during his maiden rally speech this general election on April 27,
“This is possible when you have stability,” he said. “Political stability gives us the confidence to plan long term, gives the public service, gives the statutory boards, gives our partners the confidence to work with us to plan for the long term and know that they can commit resources to implement with discipline, because they know it will be done and there will not be flip-flops.”
Mr Lee said projections by climate scientists have shown escalating climate impact, such as rising sea levels. Temperature records have also consistently been broken.
Planting trees can tap nature’s cooling powers to make the urban western areas more liveable, Mr Lee said, pointing to how the Jurong industrial estate suffers from the urban heat island effect, where urban areas are warmer than rural areas.
Coastal protection is another important area for West Coast-Jurong West GRC, Mr Lee said.
During the Budget debates in March, it was announced that a site-specific study looking into how Singapore’s south-western coast
Tuas Port is being developed in four phases
Operations at the Tanjong Pagar, Keppel and Brani terminals will be moved to the port by 2027. Pasir Panjang Terminal will remain open until its operations are consolidated at Tuas Port by the 2040s.
“Tuas is in West Coast-Jurong West, and it will give us the opportunity to work with residents,” Mr Lee said.
Residents have already approached him with concerns about what these developments could mean for them, in terms of property prices or the living experience there, he said.
Mr Lee added: “Residents with little kids – they want to know what’s at stake for them, long-term residents of the west, they want to know what’s going to happen when Pasir Panjang moves out.”
Singapore goes to the polls on May 3
Besides Mr Lee, the PAP slate for West Coast-Jurong West GRC includes Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Education Shawn Huang, three-term MP Ang Wei Neng, orthopaedic surgeon Hamid Razak and lawyer Cassandra Lee.
They will be facing off against a PSP team that includes the party’s top three leaders – chairman Tan Cheng Bock, secretary-general Leong Mun Wai and first vice-chairperson Hazel Poa. The other two candidates are Mr Sumarleki Amjah, head of packaged food and business development at a food and beverage (F&B) firm, and in-house legal counsel Sani Ismail.
On a broader level, Mr Lee pointed to plans by the National Parks Board to enhance the 13 parks in the south-west, ranging from major parks such as West Coast Park to smaller town parks like Clementi Woods Park.
This can help to create recreational opportunities for residents, he said, and offers the opportunity to push for more greenery or heritage elements to be woven in.
“You have the East Coast Park, which is a destination park. And a lot of my residents say, ‘Why can’t West Coast Park be as good, if not better?’” Mr Lee said.
“And indeed, we are going to upgrade West Coast Park into a destination park. We’re going to make it better. We’re going to have more greenery, we’re going to let it have recreational and F&B options, heritage elements as well.”
Asked how he strikes a balance between his role as an MP and his Cabinet portfolio of Minister for National Development, overseeing Singapore’s greening strategy, Mr Lee said all MPs, whether from the ruling party or the opposition, have the opportunity to work with the government of the day to ensure good implementation on the ground.
He also said MPs represent their voters when it comes to debating legislation, constructively critiquing policies in Parliament and raising issues of national interest.
“The third role of a Member of Parliament, and this is not discretionary, is to run the town council, and that is being an estate manager,” Mr Lee said. “You run the town council, you attend to municipal issues, you make sure the town council runs in a financially sustainable way and achieves results.”
Looking after the estate also means looking after the residents – not just raising issues in Parliament but also trying your best to resolve them, whether you are the ruling party or the opposition, Mr Lee said.
“So all these are three roles that I think should be expected of Members of Parliament, and I think all three need to be given equal weight.”
His remarks come after an exchange of views on the role of an MP between the PAP and the PSP in West Coast-Jurong West GRC.
While on the campaign trail, the PSP team had initially challenged the PAP to a debate on national policies
Mr Lee in turn called on voters to ask contesting parties about their plans for the constituency. The PSP’s Mr Leong responded by saying that the main role of an MP is not to manage an estate,
