Singapore must learn from the recent flooding episodes and upgrade its infrastructure and systems, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

However, it is also not realistic to expect the country to be completely free of floods, he said at the opening of the PUB's ABC Waters project at Lower Seletar Reservoir.

According to a ChannelNewsAsia report, he said: 'We will continue to implement new drainage works, improve the design of the drainage systems and to deal with more intense storms.

'But I don't think it's possible in Singapore to expect the place to be completely free of floods. Because if you're going to do that, you'll have to have huge tracts of land put aside for huge monsoon drains which will be empty most of the time, the land is tied up, the infrastructure will cost a lot of money.'

So, a more realistic objective is to prevent widespread and prolonged flooding and limit the risk to lives and damage to property, said PM Lee. He added that contingency plans should be in place to ensure that if there is heavier rain than usual, the relevant agencies are able to respond quickly to deal with the problems.

Heavy rainfall on June 16 caused massive floods at Orchard Road and millions of dollars of damage, while flash floods also hit Singapore last Friday and caused chaos on some roads. National water agency PUB had said that the Orchard Road flood and the impact and disruption to people, traffic and business was 'unacceptable'.

Source : The Business Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Reprinted with permission.