5The flood was due to 2 waves of very heavy rain on 5 June 2011, at 6am and 10.30am respectively. Although from the picture above, this kind of flood is definitely nothing compared to the massive flood after tsunami in Japan, or any other areas. However, the damages due to this flood is definitely humongous.
This seriously makes us wonder why, why are we experiencing big floods several times within a year? The previous time where a few areas suffered bad floods were 16 June 2010. Just barely 1 year, several areas in Singapore are hit by this kind of bad flood again, not counting the small floods in between the time frame.
Do you remember the famous phrase, "Freak floods that happens only once in 50 years” according to Minister for Environment Mr Yaacob Ibrahim in 2010.
Just weeks after the elections, the new Minister for Environment Vivian Balakrishnan, is facing the exact same problem Yaacob has failed to solve. Despite evidence has shown that the extent of flood wasn't worse than the previous considering the heavier rainfall this time. This is something commendable however it actually shows that the government still didn't do enough to deal with this problem. The problem lies greatly in the drainage system, and it does not help when you only remedy the areas affected but neglect other areas, it is evident that this time, the flood areas were at different areas, thus the whole drainage system has to be reviewed. Could it also be that Marina Barrage is causing the problem as well? I have read that there must be a minimum water level in the drainage system to ensure that the barrage contains sufficient water, this may have caused the flood because the capacity the drain can actually hold is reduced. Well, i have heard of more ridiculous answers such as the ship like structure of the Marina Bay Sands may have attracted more water in Singapore so that the 'Ship' can continue to move.
Oh well, whatever it is, we are currently really expecting more from Vivian for this matter. I'm not very satisfied with his reply that he can't guarantee anything but he will do his best because it is how the weather changes and he cant control. Considering his high minister pay, and his responsibilities compared to other ministers of other countries with similar responsibilities, where they might have to deal with disasters like earthquakes tsunamis and everything related, his answer is definitely not satisfactory. However, I am still waiting to see how this problem is going to be solved.
Cheers! =)
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