SINGAPORE: Tanjong Pagar GRC residents can expect more improvements to their homes and neighbourhoods over the next five years.
These include the Home Improvement Project, which refurbishes ageing flats, and the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme.
These are part of the constituency's five-year masterplan aimed at rejuvenating the ageing estate.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who is also an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, launched the masterplan on Saturday. He said the plans will encourage community bonding and increase the value of residents' homes.
The plans include lift upgrading for every HDB block, new pedestrian linkways, wheelchair-friendly facilities and more family service centres to cater to the young and old.
High speed Internet access will also be available to all households by 2012 via the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network.
Work has also been ongoing to improve the estate. One project is the sprucing up of Alexandra Canal under the national Active, Beautiful and Clean or ABC Waters Programme.
Completed in 23 months at a cost of S$34 million, the project was officially opened by Minister Mentor Lee on Saturday.
The canal runs for 1.2 kilometres between Tanglin Road and Delta Road.
A stretch of the canal near Tanglin Road was decked over to create an interesting water cascade and water play area. The deck also serves as a vantage point from which the public can have a bird's eye view of the revitalised waterway.
Located on the deck is a series of wetlands that allow the public to learn about different wetland systems and plants.
Mr Lee said such projects would encourage Singaporeans to have a stake in the community.
He said: "Every time an estate gets old, we renew it. We refurbish it. Why? Because we want to increase the value of your homes, beautify the surroundings with ABC Waters, gardens and so on. So for those who have moved to condos and private property, well, they have decided that they can afford it. But 85 per cent are in HDB homes. We intend to keep the values of these homes up. They will never go down."
Tanjong Pagar Town Council is the latest to launch its masterplan, ahead of a General Election widely expected to be in the next few months.
Tanjong Pagar GRC will see some boundary changes in the election. For instance, it will absorb parts of Holland-Bukit Timah and Jalan Besar GRCs, while Radin Mas ward, which is currently helmed by MP Sam Tan, will be carved out into a
single-member constituency.
At Saturday's event, Mr Lim Swee Say, an MP of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, and Dr Lily Neo, an MP of Jalan Besar GRC, were seen together with the other MPs from Tanjong Pagar GRC.
And amidst talk of where People's Action Party (PAP) candidates would be fielded, the appearance of Mr Lim and Dr Lily Neo would no doubt fuel speculation that they could be part of Mr Lee's five-member team in Tanjong Pagar at the election.
