SINGAPORE : Nature lovers can look forward to a greener Garden City when Singapore gets a second national botanical gardens in the new Downtown at Marina Bay.
The National Development Ministry says Marina Bay will be the key focus of its in the coming years, with some S$300 million set aside for infrastructure and facilities.
Among the major developments will be a waterfront promenade and a connecting bridge to Marina Centre, which when completed by the year 2008 will create a continuous loop around the entire bay.
An anchor attraction at the new downtown will be the second botanical gardens.
The existing Botanic Gardens will focus on botanical collections and research, while the new one will have mass floral displays and creative plant-based 'edutainment'.
It is also expected to have an iconic conservatory of cool tropical and temperate plants.
Nature Society president Dr Geh Min is excited by the idea of the new gardens and is particularly enthusiastic about its location.
Dr Geh said, "I hope it will be not just a green space or green lung, but a blue-green space where you can enjoy sea views, enjoy the sea breeze, look out to the horizon. So I hope this new botanic gardens will not be a built up artificial type of garden with a lot of concrete; it will be a refuge an oasis for people who work or live in the city."
There are also plans for a biennial Singapore Tropical Garden Show at the new gardens with international floral and landscape displays and trade exhibits.
The ministry says promoting a green Singapore will extend to the heartlands, with community gardening set to blossom in more private estates and even some public ones.
And Singapore's reputation as a shopping paradise will be also given a boost with plans to rejuvenate Orchard Road with two new retail sites at the junctions with Killiney Road and Paterson Road.
As for HDB residents, they can look forward to more lift upgrading, greater flexibility in the use of their flats and private sector participation in the design and development of public housing.
Food safety and supply is also set to improve as the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority strengthens its safety system for both local and imported food with the new Veterinary Public Health Centre.
AVA will also approve and accredit more new food sources to allow the market to respond quickly to sudden supply shortfalls because of disease or bans. - CNA
Read the Ministry of National Development's Addendum to the President's Address. - CNA