President Tony Tan Keng Yam on Tuesday paid his first visit to the Jurong Rock Caverns, the first underground oil storage facility in South-east Asia.

He was accompanied by members of the Council of Presidential Advisers, including chairman J. Y. Pillay, on the visit hosted by JTC Corporation.

The caverns, which are being built, are located on Jurong Island and intended to support the growth of the chemicals and energy clusters there.

"This massive infrastructural development, located at a subterranean depth of 130m beneath the Banyan Basin on Jurong Island, helps Singapore overcome the challenge of scarce land resources to remain competitive globally," President Tan said later on Tuesday, in a posting on his facebook page.

JTC said in a media statement that the caverns "will free up land for productive activities on the surface, adding value to the industry and differentiating Singapore from competition". The first phase of the project, which involves five caverns providing 1.47 million cu m of storage, is scheduled for completion early next year.