Debated in Parliament on 4 Apr 2017.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the tender for noise barriers for MRT tracks at Khatib station has been awarded; and (b) when will the work commence onsite and when will it be completed.
We will call the tender for noise barriers for Khatib and other areas under Phase 2 of the programme within the next couple of months. There has been a delay due to the need to review the effectiveness of Phase 1. After tender award, LTA will need some time to finalise the design for each of the locations under Phase 2. But more importantly, the timeline for installation needs to be closely coordinated with many other rail maintenance, improvement and upgrading works that compete for the very limited engineering hours. We should be able to start installation works around 2020 for completion by 2022.
Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask a clarification from the Minister. When I asked a similar question in August last year, the answer was that it would call the tender in the second half of last year and it would start in 2019. It will only be completed in 2022, that is, a few years' delay. I would like to ask the Minister: when we implement this stretch of noise barrier, can Khatib be put at the beginning of the project because I have quite a number of residents who have been requesting because their sleep has been affected by the noise?
Madam, as I have explained, there was a delay by a few months because we were asked to do a post-Budget review because as is a huge project involving hundreds of millions of dollars. So, rightly, the Treasury required us to, first, break it up into two phases and to do Phase 2 after we have had a good review of the results of Phase 1. That is why there was this slight delay of a few months. That explains why 2019 becomes 2020. But, overall, I am sympathetic because my constituency is also within Phase 2 of this programme. We will do our best.
Madam, I thank the Minister for the update. Yew Tee was covered under Phase 1. However, the project has not been completed because there are two sections and we are not the only one to have this where they require higher barriers. And we were told that this would then have to be covered under Phase 2 of the tender process, which means you now have a barrier system that is half complete under Phase 1. So, if there is a further delay for the tender for Phase 2, residents would be left wondering why is it that Phase 1 has been completed but is incomplete.
In fact, one of the stretches in my constituency fitted that kind of description, too. So, I am very sympathetic to the plea. We will do our best.
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