S'pore races ahead with costly petrochemical plan
S'pore races ahead with costly petrochemical plan
SINGAPORE (AFP): As other recession-hit Asian economies shelve
mammoth infrastructure projects, Singapore is going full steam
ahead with its ambitious plan to create a new island for a world
class petrochemical complex.
The S$7 billion (US$4.24 billion) project to merge seven
islets southwest of Singapore into one big island was launched in
1995 but only last week did the government award the final,
largest and most expensive contract for reclamation under the
novel venture.
The government also said it was hastening the completion of
the project, already ahead of schedule, by another two years to
2001, just before an anticipated boom cycle for the currently-
depressed petrochemical industry.
According to plans, the government will amalgamate the islets
into what is called Jurong Island and set up basic infrastructure
for the cluster of petroleum and petrochemical industries
developed by multi-national companies.
Some 36 companies already have projects worth about 20 billion
Singapore dollars on the islets, whose integration now will
triple their total size to about 2,800 hectares (6,918 acres) and
create a self-contained petrochemical complex.
"Reclamation work on Jurong Island will go on without let,"
declared Lim Neo Chian, chairman of the Jurong Town Corp. (JTC),
Singapore's state-run industrial estate developer which is
spearheading the project.
Lim said petrochemical and chemical industries, a key
component of Singapore's key manufacturing sector, was vital to
Singapore, whose economic growth entered negative territory in
the third quarter of 1998 for the first time in 13 years as a
result of Asia's debilitating financial crisis.
"It is important for us to invest in infrastructure
development now so that in an upturn we can quickly build to meet
new demand," he said.
Lim's JTC last week awarded a S$1.3 billion reclamation
contract -- the third and final phase in creating the island --
to a Japan-Singapore-Belgium-Holland joint venture.
It is the largest single reclamation contract ever awarded in
Singapore, whose small size has often been cited as a constraint
to progress.
The joint venture led by Japan's Penta Ocean Construction Co.
Ltd. will reclaim 977 hectares (2,414 acres) by the end of 2001.
Work under two earlier phases to reclaim 682 hectares (1,685
acres) will be completed by March.
JTC officials said a 238-million-Singapore-dollar road link
from the larger Singapore island to Jurong Island was expected to
be passable to construction traffic by March and other traffic by
the end of 1999. A major arterial road project on the island was
also being constructed.
While Singapore proceeds with the costly project despite its
economic problems, it is getting support from multinational
petroleum companies which analysts earlier thought will shelve
their ventures on Jurong Island because of the regional slowdown.
Among the companies is U.S. giant Exxon Corp. which confirmed
this month that it would proceed with a two billion US dollar
world-scale petrochemical complex on Jurong Island.
It is the single largest investment from a single company in a
manufacturing project in Singapore and will create 500
professional and technical jobs.
"Exxon's commitment to such a massive project during this
period of economic slowdown is a strong demonstration of its
confidence in the recovery of the region," said Philip Yeo,
chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
To fuel the petrochemical industries mushrooming on Jurong
Island, Singapore will import natural gas from Indonesia's West
Natuna.
The gas is to be transported by a 640-kilometer (about 400
miles) underwater pipeline, running mostly in Indonesian waters.
It was reported last week that Singapore and Indonesia had
finalized the gas sales deal costing several billion dollars.
An agreement, earlier scheduled to be signed last October, is
expected to be inked by January, enabling the gas pipeline to be
completed by end-2000 and gas flowing by 2001.