All East Coast Park beaches open after oil spill clean-up
Visitors to East Coast Park can now frolic on all its beaches after the park’s remaining sections reopened nearly two months after Singapore’s worst oil spill in a decade.
The National Parks Board (NParks) said in a Facebook post on Aug 11 that the clean-up of the beachfront at the park is complete, and people can resume “non-primary contact water sports” – which involve minimal contact with water – like kayaking in these areas.
But beachgoers have to wait a little longer before they can swim by the shore. NParks advised against swimming and primary contact water activities such as wakeboarding and stand-up paddling in the beach waters. In its post, it did not give a date for when such sports could resume.
On Aug 7, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu estimated that clean-up operations for all beaches affected by the oil spill would most likely conclude in the next month or so.
She was responding in Parliament to a question posed by MP Dennis Tan (Hougang) on the status of clean-up efforts following the oil spill at Pasir Panjang Terminal on June 14.
The leaked oil, caused by a collision between dredging boat Vox Maxima and stationary bunker vessel Marine Honour, spread to coastlines at East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve, Keppel Bay, the Southern Islands and Sentosa. Following the incident, public agencies and hundreds of volunteers banded together to rid affected beaches and rock bunds of the muck.
On July 22, the beaches at East Coast Park Areas B and E were declared open. Area G was reopened a week later.
This was followed on Aug 3 by Sentosa’s Siloso Beach, the first of three beaches on the recreational island to open since the authorities closed them for a clean-up.
The Sentosa Development Corporation said previously that Palawan Beach and Tanjong Beach would be reopened in August after cleaning is completed.
Responding to Mr Tan on the total expenses incurred for the clean-up of the beaches and coastal waters, Ms Fu said the Government has not totalled up the expenses, as the attention has so far been focused on the clean-up operations.
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