Expansion plans underway at Semakau Landfill [News]

June 11, 2012 by Eugene Tay
Filed under News

By Olivia Siong, Channel NewsAsia, 10 Jun 2012.

Work is underway to expand the landfill site on Semakau Island.

Semakau, located among the Southern islands of Singapore, is the world’s first offshore landfill created entirely from sea space.

A 160-hectare lagoon at Semakau Landfill is set for a transformation and will soon become a landfill site as part of Phase Two of the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) plans to expand the landfill area on the island.

Currently, a 190-hectare of sea space is being used in Phase One of operations.

General manager of Semakau Landfill NEA, Ong Chong Peng, said: “We are actually land-filling the sea space, the so-called Phase One sea space. Based on the current usage and based on the projections of the waste growth, sometime by 2015, the Phase One sea space will be used up. So right now we started early last year, we started the planning for Phase Two.”

Operations at Semakau started in 1999. It is Singapore’s only off-shore landfill. The island receives more than 1,700 tonnes of incineration ash every day. It’s expected to meet Singapore’s landfill needs, till 2045 or beyond.

Talks are underway with other government agencies.

Mr Ong said : “For the future expansion of Semakau landfill, we really have to discuss with the authorities, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore, Singapore Land Authority, so that’s actually the long term plan. But we did have some initial discussion with them.”

With expansion plans underway, the National Environment Agency said it’s committed to conserving the thriving eco-system at Semakau.

Mr Ong said” “First (it) is to make sure our landfill operations are carried out properly, and also there’s no pollution to the surrounding environment. And also, to make sure our perimeter, the structure, the stability of the perimeter bunds are properly maintained. To keep this surrounding water pollution free. So this is the first effort, to make sure the biodiversity can continue to thrive.”

The agency said it will call for a tender once its design proposal is approved.

Details will be released at a later date.

Source: Channel NewsAsia