Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced long-term infrastructure plans to raise the capacity at Changi Airport with a third runway as well as relocate its seaport to make way for a new waterfront city.
Prime Minister Lee in his recent annual National Day address said the master plan aims to keep the city-state the leading aviation and shipping hub in Southeast Asia as competition from Malaysia and Thailand tightens.
Lee said that capacity at Changi Airport will be increased with the takeover of a third runway in the eastern Paya Lebar district that is now in use by the military.
The Paya Lebar Air Base will be transferred to Singapore’s eastern region after 2030, a move seen to free up some 800 hectares of land for the development of residential and business complexes. The new air base will have its own runway.
Lee also announced “Project Jewel,” a project to transform the open-air car park in front of Terminal 1 at Changi Airport into a multipurpose facility housing retail shops, restaurants, and an indoor garden.
Also on the drawing board is a Changi Terminal 5 expected to be ready by the mid-2020s in anticipation of growing demand for air travel in the ASEAN region.
As for the Singapore port, it will be transferred from 2027 to a new site in Tuas in the western part of the state to open up prime land in Tanjong Pagar for a new waterfront city. The Southern Waterfront City will occupy some 1,000 hectares of land.
Lee added that a new port was needed because the ports at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, Brani and Pasir Panjang were already reaching their capacity.
Photo: Keng Susumpow
