预算辩论 · 2026-03-04 · 第 15 届国会
2026环境可持续部供给委员会辩论：AI提升回收效率
MSE Committee of Supply 2026 — AI for Recycling & Waste Management
MSE供给委员会辩论（续）中，政务部长回应议员关于AI技术应用的提问。讨论集中在利用AI提高回收流的特异性和灵敏度，改善废物分类和资源回收效率。政府表示正在探索AI技术以增强新加坡食品故事2.0中的食品生产效率。
关键要点
- • AI提高回收分类的特异性和灵敏度
- • 改善废物管理效率
支持AI在环保领域的应用
AI在环保和循环经济中的实际应用
参与人员（5）
完整译文（中文）
Hansard 英文原文译文 · 翻译日期：2026-05-02
[(程序文本) L项（续）–（程序文本)]
[(程序文本) 2026年3月3日辩论恢复，（程序文本)]
[(程序文本) “将预算中L项的总拨款减少100美元。”– [Poh Li San 女士]。（程序文本)]
[(程序文本) 再次提出问题。（程序文本)]
主席：可持续发展与环境资深国务部长Zaqy Mohamad。
上午10时33分
可持续发展与环境资深国务部长（Zaqy Mohamad先生）：主席先生，我将谈谈我们加强食品韧性的策略。
作为一个高度依赖进口的国家，我们特别容易受到外部冲击和供应链中断的影响。过去五年，新加坡的食品供应多次受到我们无法控制的事件考验。
在新冠疫情期间，人们担心各国的防疫措施会导致食品供应中断，例如鸡蛋。2022年，马来西亚禁止出口活鸡，扰乱了对新加坡的供应。最近，2023年印度尼西亚布兰地区爆发非洲猪瘟，导致猪肉供应中断，进一步凸显了我们的脆弱性。
每次我们都依靠进口商、零售商和消费者的共同支持，转向替代选项，成功度过了供应中断。我们必须为日益紧张的地缘政治局势和贸易限制做好准备，这些因素可能扰乱我们的食品供应。中东最新一系列事件更凸显了全球不确定的局势。
我们还需要管理动物疾病带来的风险，这些疾病加剧了全球食品供应和价格的压力。作为长期风险，我们必须能够适应气候变化，例如极端和不稳定的天气，这些都会影响全球作物产量。
这就是为什么我们需要建立多种选择和灵活性，以应对不同类型的中断——无论是影响单一或多种食品，单一来源或整个地区，持续几天还是几个月。
我们从“30乘30”计划中学到了许多经验。虽然该计划成功促进了本地生产增长，主要集中在一个支柱——本地种植，但这使我们容易受到我们试图解决的中断的影响。我们学到了什么？单一支柱的策略，无论多么雄心勃勃，都无法提供新加坡所需的食品供应韧性。
这引出了新加坡食品故事2，正如傅瑾怡部长去年11月宣布的那样。它包括四个支柱：多元化进口、本地种植、储备和全球伙伴关系。这些支柱使我们能够利用不同组合应对不同情景，从而增强我们的食品韧性。
但首先，什么是实现“食品韧性”？食品韧性意味着确保新加坡能够可靠地获得基本需求——确保在中断期间，餐桌上仍有食物，货架上仍有食品，餐食尽可能保持熟悉。并非每次中断都能保证每个人喜欢的食物和品牌都能供应，我认为我们必须接受这一点。但我们会优先保障主食，如米饭、蛋白质和蔬菜。就像任何保险政策一样，我们必须战略性地保护重点和保护方式。这种方法使我们能够在最重要的地方提供食品保障，同时负责任地管理风险。
第一个食品支柱是产业多元化进口。这意味着从多个来源进口食品，建立替代来源。这样可以减少特定来源中断时的影响，帮助稳定食品供应。同时，也便于在需要时转向替代来源。
政府将通过认证新的来源来支持产业，特别是对食品安全要求较高的食品，如肉类和鸡蛋；我们将帮助本地食品进口商进行业务配对；并通过与关键来源建立区域化协议保障供应稳定。
当发生疾病爆发时，我们不会关闭整个国家的供应——如今我们更加精准。我们的区域化协议允许我们继续从受影响国家内无病区进口。例如，去年巴西爆发禽流感时，我们维持了来自未受影响地区认证农场的家禽进口，而不是限制整个巴西的进口。
我们将继续促进认证并探索与合适来源的区域化安排。
仅靠多元化是不够的，也存在限制。例如，进口商可能需要从不一定最便宜的来源购买。因此，我们还必须通过与志同道合的国家和地区合作，加强现有食品供应链的韧性。这就是全球伙伴关系——我们最新的支柱——的作用所在。
Ng Shi Xuan先生问我们如何评估全球伙伴关系是否能支持多元化。正如上个月在议会分享的，伙伴关系可以采取多种形式，例如促进海外生产，除了政府间安排和协议。
为了使这些伙伴关系有意义且可持续，它们必须实现双赢。不同伙伴关系的表现形式会有所不同。正如议员提到的，最近的例子包括去年与越南和泰国签署的两份稻米贸易谅解备忘录。这些帮助我们确保新加坡的稻米供应稳定，并为新加坡在需要时激活额外稻米供应提供渠道。
与文莱的联合研究探讨在文莱建立农业科技食品区的可行性，将探索两国如何利用各自优势，增强农产品贸易和食品供应韧性，首先从水产养殖开始。
当下一次中断发生时，我们不想手忙脚乱地寻找替代方案。我们希望拥有预先建立的渠道、经过测试的协议和可信赖的合作伙伴，随时准备响应。这将危机管理从被动应对转变为主动部署。我们将继续探索与志同道合经济体的互利安排，以加强我们的食品供应韧性。
主席先生，即使我们努力减少中断的可能性和影响，仍可能面临广泛的中断，导致食品一段时间内无法进入我们的边境。这就是为什么我们要储备必需食品，如大米。它为我们争取时间和缓冲空间，以恢复食品流通并维持人口生活。
正如去年11月在本院分享的，自新冠疫情以来，我们已扩大储备，涵盖冷冻蛋白和罐装蔬菜，涵盖碳水化合物、纤维和蛋白质三大食品组。我们将继续与产业合作，更有效地储备。
谈到本地种植。本地种植仍是我们食品韧性策略的重要支柱。储备有限，进口可能中断。本地农场能为我们提供可再生的新鲜食品来源，即使在长期中断期间也能维持。越来越多的农场转向受控环境，使其更具气候韧性和土地利用效率。
Poh Li San女士询问失败本地农场的经验教训，Ng Shi Xuan先生问新加坡在替代蛋白方面的角色。我们必须首先认识到，我们的大部分农业产业尚处于初期发展阶段。发展可行技术和商业模式需要时间。我们还必须务实地看待本地可持续种植的食品种类。要本地生产我们餐盘上的每一种食品，既不高效也不现实。
因此，在新加坡食品故事2下，我们调整了本地生产目标，重点关注在新加坡可高效规模化生产的纤维和蛋白质类型。这些包括新鲜叶菜和果蔬，如小白菜和番茄，豆芽和蘑菇作为纤维来源；蛋和海鲜作为蛋白质来源。这些目标考虑了本地农业生态系统的优势和供应增长潜力。
我们还必须现实地看待经济性。本地农场的土地和生产成本始终高于区域农场。不幸的是，这是我们的现实。但这与新加坡在制造业等其他行业如何区别于低成本替代品的情况无异。我们必须提升附加值，提高生产力和成本效率，并在政府支持下投资能力和产能建设。
但我们也从需求端学到了：消费者和大型买家，如超市，愿意为更新鲜、无农药的本地农产品支付合理溢价，这些产品还保证供应稳定。这意味着他们需要规模化且持续的供应。因此，关键是让我们的农场达到合适的规模和成本结构。以本地蛋业为例，已实现这一平衡，本地生产占本地消费的30%。
Lee Hui Ying女士和Cai Yinzhou先生问我们如何支持和提升本地农场的认知。我们帮助农场提高生产力，实现规模经济，提升能力，增强农业投入品供应韧性，并扩大需求。
2021年启动的首批农业食品集群转型（ACT）基金已显示，新加坡农场可以转型为高产、抗虫害和疾病、且日益具备气候韧性的先进农业运营。
自启动以来，我们已拨款5500万新元支持近150个项目。该基金使农业和水产养殖农场采用从简单小规模技术（如LED生长灯、自动喂食器和自动灌溉系统，减少人工）到气候控制环境中的大规模农业系统，保证全年生产不受天气影响。
上午10时45分
以新加坡水产养殖科技为例，借助ACT基金支持，他们没有采用传统的开放式网箱养鱼技术，而是部署了封闭式养殖系统。结果如何？他们的生产力是传统海基鱼场的三倍，且使用封闭系统降低了环境风险，如藻华。封闭式养殖技术仍处于初期阶段，需要产业准备。
因此，回应Nadia Ahmad Samdin女士的问题，本地产业采用封闭式养殖系统等技术需要时间。新加坡食品局（SFA）将继续支持有意愿和准备好转型的农场。
ACT基金的另一受益者是Yili农场，他们升级了种植系统，优化布局，改善作物保护，并与中央苗圃和灌溉系统整合，实现更快的作物周期和20%的生产力提升。这些进展使我们有信心加强基金，进一步支持农场。
今天，我宣布ACT基金2将提供新一轮7000万新元资金，从2026年4月起，历时五年，这是迄今为止我们支持技术采用和本地农业能力建设的最大产业计划。
同时，将引入新的资金组成部分——产业能力转型合作伙伴资助。此举回应产业反馈，强调需要协作方式解决共同挑战，如规模经济有限和供应链低效。
该新计划将共同资助农场与生态系统参与者之间的战略合作，开发和部署可支持多家农场的产业级解决方案。例如，农场与产业参与者合作开发集成配送系统，简化从农场到市场的流程，降低运输成本，提高产品新鲜度。
针对水产养殖业，我们还将支持海基和陆基农场通过示范项目采用新技术，提高生产力和产出稳定性。例如，自动化苗鱼疫苗接种可降低劳动强度。成功示范的技术随后可通过ACT基金2推广至产业。
除技术外，优质农业投入品，如鱼卵、苗鱼和饲料，是水产养殖成功的基础。目前农场大部分鱼苗和苗鱼来自海外，质量不稳定，存活率低，因长途运输压力大。
2024年11月，我们推出国家亲鱼种中心及孵化场发展与认证计划，为农场提供高质量鱼卵和苗鱼，具有更高的存活率和养殖成活率。国家亲鱼种中心生产无病亲鱼，商业孵化场在严格生物安全标准下培育高质量苗鱼。
对农场而言，这直接转化为更好的盈利能力。这些优质苗鱼生长更快，存活率更高，饲料转化效率更好。意味着农场能更快达到市场，饲料成本更低，损失更少。
我们从亚洲鲈鱼开始，现已成功扩展至海鲈鱼。五家孵化场已获认证，可从国家亲鱼种中心获得优质鲈鱼卵和海鲈鱼苗。今年，我们将扩大国家育种计划，纳入红鲷鱼，并推动产业主导增加白虾幼体和石斑鱼苗供应。
优质鱼卵和苗鱼奠定基础，但健康和营养投入决定农场是否实现最佳生长和抗病能力。SFA的新综合孵化场支持计划将帮助本地孵化场采用专用饲料和优质疫苗，最大化高质量鱼苗的生长潜力。通过示范试验，增强农场投资优质投入的信心。
国家亲鱼种中心、孵化场发展与认证计划及综合孵化场支持计划共同构建了强化的水产养殖价值链，提升鱼苗质量，提高产量，增强竞争力，涵盖海基和陆基农场。
我们的销售计划在新加坡食品韧性最重要的食品类型上取得进展——我们目标是做得更好。核心是新加坡农食品企业联合会（SAFEF），它已成为关键的需求聚合引擎，将农场生产能力与本地需求匹配。
Nadia Ahmad Samdin女士问SAFEF需求聚合的成效。SAFEF打造了“海峡鱼”和“SG农场市场”等可持续品牌，现已入驻主要超市——FairPrice、盛荣、冷藏和Giant，使本地农产品更贴近社区。公众反响积极。例如，“SG农场市场”品牌下的小白菜自2024年5月推出以来，销量增长约七倍。
我们将在2026年扩大需求聚合模式，增加更多产品种类和“海峡鱼”海鲈鱼即食产品。SAFEF还将与更多餐饮业者合作，将SG农场市场产品纳入菜单。此举旨在通过连接零售需求与分散的本地农场供应链，促进农场主流市场渗透。由于农业规模小，聚合销售计划为农场提供了扩大生产所需的销售保障。同时，超市、酒店和餐饮商获得可靠本地供应的信心，愿意提供货架空间和营销支持。
新加坡食品故事的成效还取决于我们迅速应对中断的准备。SFA正在加强预警系统，提供更长的行动提前期。我们与PSA BDP合作开发的新风险监测仪表板和食品供应可视化工具，能提前预警可能影响食品进口的动态，增强新加坡上游食品供应链的可视性。该工具已证明其价值——去年5月巴西禽流感爆发和近期中东冲突期间，加快了我们的风险评估。
针对水产养殖，我们正在升级有害藻华预测模型，整合天气预报，实现更准确的环境预测。这样可提前警示农场，便于实施通气或紧急收获等缓解措施，减少存货损失。
这些举措共同增强了SFA评估、规划和缓解供应中断风险的能力，确保新加坡食品韧性不受影响。感谢Foo Cexiang先生对我们食品支柱的建议。强大的供应链物流确实是韧性的关键支柱。我们将继续与相关机构和产业密切合作，包括考虑您的建议。
主席先生，建设新加坡的食品韧性需要我们所有人超越个人利益，以集体的紧迫感行动。政府将继续尽我们的职责——无论是投资于ACT基金2、扩展国家亲鱼种中心、与SAFEF创建采购计划，还是加强预警系统。但我们无法单独保障我们的食品未来。
我希望企业能更多支持我们的本地食品生产和整体的新加坡食品故事2计划。多元化您的供应来源，并将本地生产作为战略缓冲。超市应扩大本地农产品的货架空间，餐厅应加入我们的“从农场到餐桌”认可计划，食品制造商应与SAFEF合作发展本地供应链。
当您选择本地供应商时，您是在投资新加坡的食品韧性，这将保护您的业务在下一次重大中断或大规模疫情情景中免受影响。对于消费者来说，您的选择塑造了我们的集体韧性。即使本地农产品价格略高，也请优先选择，并在危机和短缺期间对我们的食品选择保持更灵活。我们为本地农产品支付的溢价，是当一切失效时可靠食品供应的保险。
主席先生，我们的开国元勋明白，新加坡的生存依赖于集体行动胜过个人利益。正如我们的开国总理常说，涉及新加坡生存时，我们绝不能留有侥幸。今天，我们将同样的原则应用于食品韧性，通过新加坡食品故事2——通过集体行动构建全面韧性，因为我们的食品未来太重要，不能仅靠侥幸。
主席：高级议员秘书吴涵燕。
可持续发展与环境部长高级议员秘书（吴涵燕女士）：主席先生，气候适应听起来可能很遥远——似乎是由别人、在别处处理的事情。但事实上，它体现在日常生活中，比如突如其来的暴雨打乱您的通勤，或日落后公寓中持续的热浪。这些小而日益增多的不便告诉我们一个重要信息：我们周围的环境正在变化，我们的应对方式将决定我们的生活方式。
简单来说，气候适应意味着为已知将至的干扰做好准备。我们如何帮助自己在气候变化中保持舒适和安全。对新加坡来说，这项工作变得更加紧迫。昨天，傅瑾怡部长宣布，我们将把2026年定为气候适应年。这是一年提高意识并让所有人参与行动的年份。
在环境部，这体现了我们统一的“我们优先”理念。每个人都与新加坡的适应息息相关，每个人都有责任让它奏效。在接下来的几分钟里，我将分享我们如何在海岸、社区和日常行动中落实这一理念。
首先，作为一个土地稀缺的国家，新加坡易受海平面上升影响。简单来说，如果我们无所作为，海平面每上升一次，我们的土地就会减少。
我们今天已经看到一些影响。今年一月，春潮在没有降雨的情况下淹没了东海岸公园的部分地区。这告诉我们，海岸洪水不是遥远的未来问题，而是正在发生的现实。
政府已通过海岸与防洪基金投入数十亿资金，这是一项以代计的长期投资。海岸保护的核心是保护土地，同时支持人类与自然共享海岸的方式。我们在新加坡看到钢铁与混凝土与荒野相邻。我亲自参与过一次潮间带徒步，看到海蛞蝓和沙元等海洋生物，就在丹那美拉渡轮码头旁。
我们正在与社区讨论海岸保护措施及其设计方式。这包括居民、企业、研究人员和自然团体，他们以不同方式与海岸互动，但都深切关心它。
我参加了在双溪布洛湿地保护区举行的一次会议，讨论红树林栖息地周边的海岸保护。讨论中观点丰富，涉及权衡利弊，探讨如何将海岸保护措施与公共空间结合。
其中一个建议是将克兰芝潮门改造成观景台。我们在倾听，并在制定新加坡各地的海岸保护措施时采纳这些意见。因为当人们参与塑造保护他们的措施时，保护就成为共享的，而非强加的。
第二，随着极端天气事件频发，我相信大家都经历过突如其来的暴雨。我们持续升级排水和基础设施，但没有城市能规划建设以应对所有可能的暴风雨。真正的韧性需要我们每个人都有能力自我保护。正如傅丽珊女士强调，企业可以采取措施保护其场所免受洪水侵害。
为帮助企业了解这些措施，公共事业局与业界通过行动联盟合作，制定了《防洪韧性开发指南》。该指南将于2026年中在公共事业局网站发布，帮助业主通过自助防洪风险矩阵评估其洪水暴露风险，并决定所需的防护措施。该指南实用，直接借鉴了业界经验。
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除了企业能做的准备，个人的准备同样重要。关注公共事业局的“快速防洪智慧行动”宣传活动，或参加他们的推广活动。学习简单措施，在暴雨或洪水时保护自己和家人安全。
娜迪娅女士会高兴知道我们将准备工作带到您的家门口。我们的团队正在访问易受洪水影响的地区，分发便携式防洪屏障，您可以快速搭建。我们已分发超过16,000个屏障，并将在今年持续进行。请加入我们，立即行动，订阅公共事业局在Telegram、X或MyENV应用上的洪水警报。
接下来，海岸和防洪保护对保持新加坡安全宜居至关重要。真正的差异来自于积极参与的社区。我们欣慰地看到新加坡各地社区主动提出方案，共同保护环境，促进可持续发展。
我们通过SG生态基金支持您的努力。自2020年以来，SG生态基金已拨款超过2100万新元，支持近500个项目，吸引超过70万人参与。
我特别兴奋于一个SG生态基金项目，关注老年人室内高温问题，这是一个较少被理解和讨论的话题。可持续生活实验室的HeatAware SG项目在家中安装传感器，帮助老年人了解温度积聚，并提供及时的降温建议。
他们合作的一位老人从未使用过风扇，即使在炎热的日子，这种习惯源自乡村时代。但想象一下，随着气温升高，这增加了中暑风险。通过简单的监测和温和的提示，老年人现在获得了保持安全所需的信息。
归根结底，适应首先需要清晰的认知。当我们了解周围的变化时，我们才能做好准备。这是社会成功应对变化的方式。
苏涵女士询问是否扩大SG生态基金的范围以支持更多基层行动。随着气候风险增加，我们需要更有针对性的行动。对此我们意见一致。
因此，我宣布在SG生态基金下设立气候适应专项计划。自2026年5月1日起，我们将在两年内投入最多500万新元，资助如HeatAware SG等项目，提升气候适应意识并激励行动。涵盖主题包括热韧性（如黄世轩先生、何大卫先生和李慧玲女士所提）、防洪、水资源节约及支持本地农产品。我们将全年开放申请，并将可支持项目费用的资助比例从80%提高至90%。
气候变化可能令人感到压力山大。但我们相信您能有所作为。如果您有想法，请利用SG生态基金。我们期待您的声音，并支持您将想法变为现实。对年轻人来说，您的活力和创意正是我们建设韧性新加坡所需，让您自信地继承这片土地。
李鸿昌先生会欣慰地知道，我们也致力于赋能年轻人在海外建设韧性。国家青年理事会的新加坡-东盟青年基金支持东南亚的青年可持续项目。他们还可通过青年军团远征项目参与海外可持续项目志愿服务。
最后，气候适应也关乎日常行为——我们养成的习惯、做出的选择以及作为个体承担的责任。
现在让我用普通话简要介绍饮料容器回收计划，以及日常行动如何推动可持续发展。
（普通话）：[请参阅方言发言。] 新加坡正面临气候变化带来的严峻挑战。我们必须寻求更好的解决方案以适应这些变化。环境部希望鼓励社会各界与我们携手合作，使可持续发展成为我们的日常生活的一部分。
昨天贾尼尔·普图切里博士提到的饮料容器回收计划就是一个好例子。自下个月起，超市、小贩中心、咖啡店及部分零售点将逐步开始销售印有或贴有该计划押金标志的瓶装和罐装饮料。
为帮助消费者适应该计划，本地主要超市将统一采取以下做法：货架上显示的价格不含10分押金，结账时超市会明确告知消费者需额外支付10分押金。较小零售商可能采用不同的定价方式。我们将继续与他们合作，确保瓶装和罐装饮料的定价清晰透明。
饮用完饮料后，消费者可将标记容器投入逆向自动售货机，取回10分押金。可使用SimplyGo EZ-Link卡、优惠卡或DBS PayLah!取回押金。新计划不仅将提高饮料容器的回收率，还将鼓励新加坡人养成良好的回收习惯。
在推出饮料容器回收计划前，我们广泛咨询了餐饮业者，确定了两种可行的容器回收方式。第一种是将罐装饮料倒入杯中供顾客饮用，或在顾客饮用完毕后收回容器。在这种情况下，餐饮业者不会向顾客收取10分押金。
我们将此类业者归类为“正确回收餐饮”商家。这些餐饮业者将在店内张贴告示，告知顾客不会收取押金。我们理解选择自行收集容器的业者需调整工作流程。为协助这些业者，我们将为每个“正确回收餐饮”门店提供一次性500新元补贴。业者可向国家环境局申请。
第二种方式是向购买罐装饮料的顾客收取10分押金。饮用完毕后，顾客可将容器投入任何逆向自动售货机，取回押金。这种模式对大多数咖啡店和小贩中心摊位更为实用。
实施和完善新政策需要时间。在过渡期内，我们希望公众支持和理解。同时，我们欢迎反馈和建议，以供参考和改进。
只要我们携手合作，就能共同为保护环境尽一份力。
（英文）：主席先生，气候适应关乎提前准备和共同行动。从海岸到洪水再到社区行动，每一项努力都依赖于我们所有人。这是国家持久的方式——共同适应、提前准备、为世代建设。政府将继续进行长期投资，邀请每位新加坡人参与这项工作。因为这就是“我们优先”的含义——共同责任，共享未来。[掌声]
主席：傅丽珊女士。
傅丽珊（森巴旺西） ：谢谢议长，也感谢部长、高级国务部长和高级议员秘书。我有一个问题要问高级国务部长贾尼尔博士。我曾强调新加坡食物浪费的昂贵讽刺，并询问环境部减少食物浪费的计划和努力。在他的答复中，贾尼尔博士仅提到了《好撒玛利亚人食物捐赠法案》。我想强调，该法案是由前议员黄志强先生、苏涵女士、谢伟强先生和我本人牵头的私人议员法案，经过五年咨询和基层努力，由一大批环保活动家和利益相关者组成的委员会推动。
新加坡人均每年食物浪费平均为128公斤，且呈上升趋势，在全球人均食物浪费最高的15个国家中排名靠前。仅餐厅和酒店就占食物浪费约28%，对于一个小群体来说比例相当大。我想问贾尼尔博士，环境部是否有进一步计划和努力减少食物浪费？是否会与餐饮和酒店业开展更有针对性的合作，以扭转食物浪费增长趋势？
可持续发展与环境高级国务部长（贾尼尔·普图切里博士）：先生，简短回答是肯定的。我们确实希望改善食物浪费管理，鼓励所有相关利益方参与。正如傅女士所指出，我们已有多种机制、平台和立法。我们希望确保这些得到充分利用，并继续与利益相关者合作，研究如何改进流程。
目前，我们在新闻和议会中更多关注其他废弃物流——塑料和包装——但食物浪费确实是我们需要认真思考的问题，因为它在减少浪费、提升资源回收和减少废弃物填埋方面具有巨大潜力。
主席：苏涵女士。
苏涵（马西岭-裕廊西） ：谢谢主席。我有两个澄清。第一是关于饮料容器回收计划。我从贾尼尔博士昨天的发言中了解到，“正确回收”餐饮门店将获得特定贴纸以告知消费者其计划。在这方面，我想问这些贴纸是否已分发给所有相关利益方？我们是否计划在4月1日实施？为避免餐饮顾客混淆，能否考虑建立一个集中汇总的商家名单，并放在MyENV应用上？
第二个澄清是关于SG生态基金。听部长说自2020年11月以来拨款5000万新元，已吸引超过70万人参与可持续相关工作，令人振奋。在这方面，我想了解我们是否也跟踪通过SG生态基金项目减少的废弃物量或节约的能源和水资源？正如我在发言中提到的，衡量结果对管理成果非常重要。
贾尼尔·普图切里博士：先生，感谢苏涵女士的问题。贴纸只会发放给报名参加“正确回收”餐饮计划的门店。我不希望议员们认为这必须在4月1日前完成。即使4月1日后，餐饮门店仍可选择报名。
但如果尚未报名且不在“正确回收”餐饮名单上，则有义务向顾客收取10分押金，押金随容器由顾客负责处理。因此，贴纸是有的，我们会发放给报名的门店，无论是4月1日前还是之后。
关于集中名单的想法，我们肯定会考虑。
主席：澄清发言越来越长。截止时间是上午11点30分。是的，高级议员秘书吴涵燕。
吴涵燕：针对苏涵女士关于是否衡量SG生态基金成果的问题，目前我们并未按议员所述的废弃物减少或节能量来衡量成果。但我们会跟踪申请人数、申请者背景及项目质量。主要因为SG生态基金初衷是赋能并提升可持续意识。随着基金发展成熟，我们可以考虑进一步衡量。
主席：何大卫先生，您有两次发言机会，共七分钟。
何大卫（裕廊东-武吉巴督）：谢谢主席。我有两组问题。第一是关于气候适应计划的实施方式，第二是关于饮料容器回收计划。
部长昨天提到，热浪预警将通过myENV应用程序发送。我认为这非常有用，因为我们大多数人今天都有智能手机。昨天，我在议会结束后，去见了我的基层领导，在一个有40多名基层领导的房间里，我与他们分享了这件事。然后我问：“举手表决，有多少人实际上下载了myENV应用程序？”只有少数基层领导下载了这个myENV应用程序。所以，我想问，从环境与水资源部（MSE）的角度来看，我们是否知道目前有多少人下载了这个应用程序？我们对此有何看法？
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之后，我心想，“哦不，那些不认英文字的叔叔阿姨怎么办？”于是我开始浏览这个应用程序，尝试将语言设置改为普通话——
主席：何先生，您能否直接说明您的澄清问题？我刚才要求大家发言要简明扼要。
何大卫先生：好的。我的问题是，这个应用程序本身是否具备多语言功能，以便我们的长者或那些英语不太流利的人能够使用这个应用程序。
关于第二个问题，即饮料容器回收计划，我支持回收工作和部署1000台逆向自动售货机（RVM）。我想澄清，在克莱门蒂（Clementi）的一些地区，如法伯山庄（Faber Hills Estate），那里是混合的有地住宅和人口密集的公寓区，没有大型超市，是否会在那里部署RVM？如果答案是否定的，我们是否会考虑优先在克莱门蒂人口密集的公寓区，如The Trilinq和Parc Clematis部署？
朱尼尔·普图切里博士：主席先生，如果我先回答关于RVM的问题。当然，如果何先生和所有议员认为有特定地点更适合部署RVM，我们确实有计划将初始部署数量翻倍，并且我们正在根据反馈决定这些RVM的放置位置。
我们还将观察首批1000台RVM的使用模式，以帮助我们了解应将它们放在哪里。但如果有具体地点，我们非常乐意考虑。
可持续发展与环境部长（傅海燕女士）：谢谢主席。我想回应何大卫议员关于热浪预警的评论。
我们大约有一百万订阅者下载了myENV应用程序。显然，我认为我们还有很大的提升空间，应鼓励更多新加坡人下载。何议员提到的语言可及性问题，正是我们希望在气候适应年期间听到的反馈。
此外，我要感谢许多议员提出的深思熟虑的建议，关于如何提升国家的抗热能力。我认为这些建议将成为我们适应计划中的宝贵财富。
主席：李慧莹女士，您有三分钟发言时间。
李慧莹女士（义顺）：谢谢主席。我有两个简短的澄清问题要问高级国务部长朱尼尔。
首先，关于国家环境局（NEA）与市镇理事会合作进行的监控摄像头部署试点。能否提供更详细的信息，比如试点的持续时间？这些监控摄像头的部署地点是如何确定的？
第二，关于二手烟。我注意到现有的额外禁烟规定。我想知道NEA是否考虑使用人工智能技术，特别是在烟雾检测方面。
朱尼尔·普图切里博士：主席先生，这个试点的性质是我们试图赋予市镇理事会更多权力，让他们决定监控摄像头的部署位置和执法行动，并由NEA协助支持。这是一个试点，目的是看看这种合作模式的效果如何。我们的目标是通过与市镇理事会合作，提高对基层反馈的响应速度，缩短时间周期，加快部署和潜在执法行动的速度。
因此，我们仍在研究中，当然我们愿意与李女士及其他人合作，提升NEA对市镇理事会情报和判断的响应能力，从而做得更好。
当然，人工智能技术已经在试点中，结合一些视觉识别技术，用于检测违法行为，正如李女士所描述的。
主席：黄世轩先生。
黄世轩先生（森巴旺）：谢谢主席。我就我的食品韧性观点有两点简短的评论。
第一，我感谢高级国务部长扎基将其从全球伙伴关系框架转变为可信赖伙伴关系。请问部委是否考虑提供一份报告，说明这些全球伙伴关系与我们多元化进口策略有何不同，除了具体细节之外。
第二，虽然我大力推介植物基和替代蛋白，但我也注意到亚太地区25%的替代蛋白企业已设立在新加坡。部委能否承诺确保我们的植物基和替代蛋白产业未来能融入新加坡食品故事？我注意到新加坡国立大学已有成功案例，开发出可行的产品。
扎基·莫哈末先生：感谢议员的提问。关于替代蛋白，这仍在发展中。尽管目前市场需求未达到预期，生产替代蛋白的企业面临一定挑战。但议员说得对，有些企业已转向提供其他形式的替代蛋白。我们仍在继续资助新加坡多家企业的研发费用。
我们看到越来越多公司采用企业对企业（B2B）合作模式，而非单独推销自家产品。例如，他们与食品企业合作，利用现有的制造、分销和品牌能力。比如，Umami Bioworks提供细胞培养海鲜平台，与日本海鲜生产商丸红日魯合作开发和商业化细胞培养金枪鱼。
所以，这些产品并非不可行，只是成本方面，市场尚未完全准备好大规模接受。但我认为潜力巨大，我们会继续支持。
关于议员提到的全球伙伴关系，目前还处于非常初期阶段。正如我所说，我们去年才开始签署一些协议。这是超越传统“海外种植”策略的演进。
目前，伙伴关系涵盖多种形式：政府间协议。例如与文莱，我们正在探索如何发展水产养殖；与新西兰，我们签订了其他类型的协议。因此，全球伙伴关系让我们能与志同道合的经济体开展不同合作，增强危机时期的食品韧性。
但请给我们一些时间，因为这还很新，我们届时会提供报告。
主席：傅哲祥先生，您有六分钟发言时间。
傅哲祥先生（丹戎巴葛）：主席先生，我想请部委回应我关于支持先驱小贩的发言。
吴涵妍女士：主席先生，感谢傅先生的澄清，也感谢他与选区内先驱小贩的互动，这对我们的文化非常重要。
他提出了关于家庭成员接手先驱小贩摊位时租金过渡的问题。当补贴摊位转让给第一代补贴租户的直系亲属时，我们有特别规定允许他们继续支付补贴租金。但对于转让给其他亲属，如第三代亲属，我们提供三年合理过渡期，租金从补贴价逐步过渡到市场价。
傅先生还提到允许工作准证持有者作为摊位助理的问题，这在昨天的质询时间已有部分回应。我们最近扩大了范围，纳入长期探访准证（LTVP）及LTVP+持有者，他们已在新加坡并能为经济作贡献。此举经过慎重考虑，旨在缓解人力挑战，同时保持本地身份、遗产及小贩中心文化。我们会监测影响，若有需要会考虑进一步措施。
主席：娜迪亚·萨姆丁女士。
娜迪亚·艾哈迈德·萨姆丁女士（宏茂桥）：谢谢主席。我有三个后续问题。第一，关于食品韧性和林厝港农业区的初步规划。请问国务部长能否详细说明。
第二，我很高兴听到ACT基金的追加拨款。部委是否追踪资金的使用进展及效用？是否有项目结案或失败的详细资料？
最后，关于防洪韧性。我很高兴听到建设社区韧性的计划。请问高级议员能否详细说明，除了PUB的短信警报服务外，PUB是否计划开展紧急救援和疏散演练？
扎基·莫哈末先生：感谢议员。主席先生，我想向议员保证，林厝港总体规划虽然我未在演讲中提及，但仍是我们规划的核心，只是时间较长，我们当时重点关注当前计划。我们仍在努力进行跨部门规划，优化土地利用、基础设施需求及环境考量。
同时，规划不仅是基础设施，还包括市场因素，如市场调研、技术研究、开发新概念和理念。我们不想仅建传统农场，而是未来农场。例如，我们考虑多租户设施，更好利用共享服务，帮助农场生存，建设更具气候韧性的设施。这将使我们在未来新发展中占据优势，也便于整合。
此外，我提到我们正整合物流和供应链管理，这有助于优化土地利用及设施共享服务。
这些是较长期规划。与此同时，我向议员保证，我们的计划仍在进行中。需要土地的农场，我们仍提供土地招标，招标将继续。
关于ACT基金，正如我宣布的，基金已扩展和增强。简言之，我们确实追踪。正如我早前宣布，ACT 1阶段过去几年已资助约5500万元，涵盖60家公司约150个项目。迄今为止，失败项目很少，约2个，失败率约3%。大多数农场产量提高，生产水平提升，满足本地需求。
我向议员保证，我们持续追踪并尽力支持本地农场。
吴涵妍女士：主席先生，回应议员问题，除了通过myENV应用程序发送警报外，我们还通过新合作扩大覆盖面，确保洪水信息通过多渠道传达给新加坡人，例如通过电子道路收费车载装置发布洪水警报，直接传递信息给市民。
关于紧急疏散演练，PUB与不同社区合作。例如，我曾参加居民网络和社区紧急响应组织的会议，帮助居民了解应为其独特地区制定何种计划，并从中生成和创建支持邻居和朋友的方式，以应对洪水事件。
我们希望与更多社区合作，激活他们，让他们思考紧急情况下的应对措施。
最后，我还要补充，我们通过水位传感器和闭路电视增强了洪水监测能力，以便PUB能尽快派遣快速反应队伍应对洪水。
主席：普里塔姆·辛格先生，尽管您的发言时间很短，但您一直举手，您可以提出最后一个澄清问题。
普里塔姆·辛格先生（亚逸拉惹）：谢谢主席。问题很快。在我的发言中，我问过NEA用什么指标决定是否应增加大型回收箱的收集频率。我不认为听到高级国务部长朱尼尔对此的回答。
同时，议会宣布NEA与公共废物收集商合作试点安装回收箱传感器系统，以在箱满时触发警报。我了解到该试点因新冠疫情推迟。请问高级国务部长能否分享试点结果？
朱尼尔·普图切里博士：主席先生，NEA规定小型蓝色回收箱每周至少收集三次，大型2200升侧装回收箱在组屋区每周至少收集一次。我们还要求公共废物收集商定期清理蓝色回收箱，确保不溢出，并在24小时内响应反馈。这些是我们跟踪的指标。
上午11时30分
我们也借此机会呼吁大家尽责使用蓝色回收箱，不要乱扔垃圾，这样箱子溢出的可能性会降低，减少增加收集频率的需求，同时提高回收物料的回收率。
辛格先生还问及人工智能技术。关键是提高准确性和灵敏度，避免产生过多误报或漏报，这项工作正在进行中。
主席：薄丽珊女士，我可以请您撤回修正案吗？
上午11时31分
薄丽珊女士：主席先生，我谨代表所有参与环境与水资源部供应委员会的议员，衷心感谢傅海燕部长、高级国务部长扎基、高级国务部长朱尼尔、高级议员吴涵妍，以及环境与水资源部、公共事业局、国家环境局、新加坡食品局的所有成员。
主席先生，我请求撤回我的修正案。
[(程序文本) 修正案，经许可，撤回。 (程序文本)]
[(程序文本) 头L项下的2,890,738,400元被批准列入主要预算。 (程序文本)]
[(程序文本) 头L项下的820,076,600元被批准列入发展预算。 (程序文本)]
英文原文
SPRS Hansard 原始记录 · 抓取日期：2026-05-02
[(proc text) Head L (cont) – (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resumption of Debate on Question [3 March 2026], (proc text)]
[(proc text) "That the total sum to be allocated for Head L of the Estimates be reduced by $100." – [Ms Poh Li San]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question again proposed. (proc text)]
The Chairman : Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad.
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The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Mr Zaqy Mohamad) : Mr Chairman, I will speak on our approach to strengthen food resilience.
As a country heavily reliant on imports, we are particularly vulnerable to external shocks and supply chain disruptions. Over the past five years, Singapore's food supply has been repeatedly tested by events beyond our control.
During COVID-19, there were concerns that countries' COVID-19 measures would lead to food supply disruptions, such as eggs. In 2022, Malaysia's ban on the export of live chickens disrupted their supply to Singapore. More recently, the disruption in pork supply from Bulan, Indonesia in 2023, due to an African Swine Fever outbreak, further highlighted our vulnerabilities.
Each time, we managed to tide through the disruption with the collective support of our importers, retailers and consumers who switched to alternative options. We must stay prepared for rising geopolitical tensions and trade restrictions which could disrupt our food supply. The latest chain of events in the Middle East only underscores this global climate of uncertainty.
We also need to manage our risks from animal diseases, which add to further pressure on global food supply and global prices. As a long-term risk, we must be able to adapt to climate change, such as extreme and erratic weather which affects crop yields globally.
This is why we need to build options and flexibility to deal with the different types of disruptions – whether they affect single or multiple food items, single sources or entire regions, and whether they last for days or they last for months.
We have learnt many lessons from our "30 by 30" initiative. While it had successfully catalysed local production growth, mainly focusing on one pillar – Grow Local – left us vulnerable to the very disruptions that we sought to address. What have we learnt? A single-pillar approach, no matter how ambitious, cannot provide the food supply resilience that Singapore needs.
This brings us to the Singapore Food Story 2, which Minister Grace Fu announced in November last year. It includes four pillars: diversify imports, grow local, stockpile and global partnerships. These enable us to tap onto the different combinations to address different types of scenarios and that will strengthen our food resilience.
But first, what does it mean to achieve "food resilience"? Food resilience means ensuring Singapore has reliable access to our basic needs – ensuring that during disruptions, there is still food on the table, food on our shelves and meals remain as familiar to us as possible. It will not always be possible to have everyone's favourite food and brand available in every disruption. I think we have to accept that. But we will prioritise staples such as rice, proteins and vegetables. And like any insurance policy, we must be strategic about what we protect and how we protect it. This approach allows us to provide food assurance where it matters most, whilst managing our risks responsibly.
The first food pillar is for industry to diversify imports. This means importing our food from multiple sources and building up alternative sources. Doing so reduces the impact when there are disruptions to particular sources, helping us to stabilise our food supply. And also, it makes easier to pivot to alternative sources when needed.
The Government will support the industry by accrediting new sources, for food of higher food safety concern, such as meat and eggs; we will help our local food importers with business matching; and safeguarding supply stability by establishing regionalisation agreements with key sources.
When disease outbreaks happen, we do not shut down supply from entire countries – we get more precise these days. Our regionalisation agreements allow us to continue importing from disease-free areas within affected countries. For example, during Brazil's Avian Influenza outbreak last year, we maintained poultry imports from accredited farms in unaffected regions, rather than restricting imports from the whole of Brazil.
We will continue to facilitate accreditation and explore regionalisation arrangements with suitable sources.
Diversification alone is not enough and has its constraints. For example, importers may need to buy from sources that are not necessarily the cheapest. So, we have to also strengthen the resilience of existing food supply chains by working with like-minded countries and regions. This is where global partnerships, our newest pillar, comes in.
Mr Ng Shi Xuan asked how we assess whether our global partnerships can support diversification. As shared in Parliament last month, partnerships can take various forms, such as facilitating production overseas, in addition to having government-to-government arrangements and agreements.
For such partnerships to be meaningful and sustainable, they must be win-win. And this will look different for various partnerships. As the Member has mentioned, recent examples include the two memoranda agreements on rice trade signed with Vietnam and Thailand last year. These help us ensure a stable rice supply to Singapore and provide an avenue for Singapore to activate additional rice supplies when needed.
The joint study with Brunei on the feasibility of an Agri-Tech Food Zone in Brunei will explore how both countries can leverage on our respective strengths to enhance agri-food trade and food supply resilience, starting with aquaculture.
When the next disruption hits, we do not want to be scrambling for alternatives. We want to have pre-established channels, we want to have tested protocols and trusted partners who are ready to respond. This transforms crisis management from reactive scrambling to proactive deployment. We will continue to explore mutually beneficial arrangements with like-minded economies to strengthen our food supply resilience.
Chairman, even with our efforts to reduce the likelihood and impact of disruptions, it is still possible that we could face widespread disruptions where food cannot reach our borders for some time. And this is why we will stockpile essential food items, such as rice. It gives us the time and breathing space to restore our food flows and sustain our population.
As shared in this House in November last year, since COVID-19, we have expanded our stockpiles to include frozen protein and canned vegetables to cover all three food groups – carbohydrates, fibre and protein. We will continue to work with the industry to stockpile more effectively.
Moving on to grow local. Grow local remains an important pillar of our food resilience strategy. Stockpiles are finite and imports can be disrupted. Local farms can provide us with a regenerative source of fresh food, that is maintained even during prolonged disruptions. More of our farms are moving towards controlled environments which makes them more climate-resilient and land-efficient.
Ms Poh Li San asked about the lessons learnt from failed local farms and Mr Ng Shi Xuan asked about Singapore's role in alternative proteins. We must first recognise that most of our farming industry is nascent and in an early phase of growth. It will take them time to develop viable technologies and business models. We must also take a practical approach on what we can grow locally in a sustainable manner. It would neither be efficient nor possible to locally produce every food item that we have on our plates today.
Hence, our refreshed local production targets under Singapore Food Story 2, we are focusing on fibre and protein types that are feasible to be produced at scale efficiently in Singapore. These are fresh leafy and fruited vegetables, such as xiao bai cai and tomatoes, beansprouts and mushrooms for fibre; and eggs and seafood for protein. These goals take into account the strengths of our local farming ecosystem and the potential for growth in supply.
We have also got to be realistic about our economics. Our local farms will always face higher land and production costs compared to farms from the region. Unfortunately, that is simply our reality. But the situation is no different from how Singapore differentiates from low-cost alternatives in other industries, such as manufacturing. We have to improve our value-add, bring higher-productivity and cost-efficiency, and with Government's support to invest in capability and capacity development.
But here is what we have also learnt on the demand side: consumers and large buyers, like supermarkets, are willing to pay a reasonable premium for fresher, pesticide-free local produce that comes with guaranteed supply certainty. What this means is that they want consistent supply at scale. So, the key is thus to get our farms to the right scale and cost structure. Take our local egg industry. It has achieved this balance, with local production making up to 30% of local consumption.
Ms Lee Hui Ying and Mr Cai Yinzhou asked how we will support and promote awareness of our local farms. We are helping farms to increase productivity and reap economies of scale, we are helping them to build capabilities, strengthen supply resilience of agri-inputs and enhance demand offtake.
The first tranche of the Agri-food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund, launched in 2021, has shown that Singapore farms can transform into advanced farming operations that are of higher yield, that are more pest- and disease- resilient, and increasingly climate-resilient too.
Since its launch, we have awarded $55 million to nearly 150 projects. The Fund has enabled both agri- and aqua-farms to adopt everything from simple, small-scale technologies, like LED grow lights, automated feeders and automated irrigation systems that reduce manual labour, to large-scale farming systems in climate-controlled environments that guarantee year-round production regardless of the weather.
10.45 am
Take Singapore Aquaculture Technology as a good example of this transformation. Using ACT Fund support, instead of adopting conventional open cage fish farm technologies, they deployed a closed containment aquaculture system. What is the outcome? They now operate at three times the productivity of conventional sea-based fish farms and in using closed containment aquaculture system, they face lower risk from environmental hazards, such as algal blooms. Closed containment aquaculture system technology is still nascent and requires industry readiness.
Thus, to Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin's question, it will take time for the local industry to adopt systems such as closed containment aquaculture system. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will continue to support farms who are keen and ready for this transition.
Another beneficiary of the ACT Fund is Yili Farm who upgraded their cultivation systems to optimise layout, improve crop protection and integrate with their centralised nursery and irrigation system. This enabled faster crop cycles and a 20% increase in productivity. These developments give us confidence to enhance the Fund to support our farms further.
Today, I am announcing a new tranche of funding of $70 million under the ACT Fund 2. This will be made available from April 2026, over five years, and it represents our largest industry scheme to date to support technology adoption and local agriculture capability and capacity building.
At the same time, it will introduce a new funding component – the Industry Partnerships for Capability Transformation Grant. This is in response to feedback from the industry on the need for collaborative approaches to tackle common challenges, such as limited economies of scale and supply chain inefficiencies.
This new scheme will co-fund strategic partnerships between farms and ecosystem players on the development and deployment of industry-wide solutions that can support multiple farms. Examples will include farms and industry players collaborating on integrated delivery systems which streamlines the process from farm-to-market, reducing transportation cost and improving product freshness.
For the aquaculture sector, we will also support both sea-based and land-based farms to adopt newer technologies to improve productivity and consistency of output through demonstration projects. One example is the automated vaccination of fingerlings which can reduce labour intensity. Successfully demonstrated technologies can subsequently be adopted by the industry via the ACT Fund 2.
Beyond technology, quality agri-inputs, such as eggs, fingerlings and feed, are fundamental to success for aquaculture. Today, farms source a majority of their fry and fingerling from overseas sources with less consistent quality and lower survival rates due to the long transport stress.
In November 2024, we introduced the National Broodstock Centre and Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme to supply our farms with high quality eggs and fingerlings, with higher survival and grow-out rates. The National Broodstock Centre produces disease-free broodstock that commercial hatcheries then develop into high quality fingerlings under strict biosecurity standards.
For farms, this translates directly into better profitability. These premium fingerlings grow faster, survive better and they convert feed more efficiently. That means that farms reach market quicker with lower feed costs and fewer losses.
We started out with Asian Seabass and have since successfully expanded into Marine Tilapia. Five hatcheries have been recognised under the Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme and can now access quality seabass eggs and marine tilapia brooder fingerlings from the National Broodstock Centre. This year, we will expand our national breeding programme to include Red Snapper and work towards industry-led efforts to increase the supply of Whiteleg shrimp larvae and grouper fingerlings.
High-quality eggs and fingerlings set the foundation, but health and nutrition inputs determine whether farms achieve optimal growth and disease resistance. SFA's new Integrated Hatchery Support Programme will help local hatcheries adopt specialised feeds and quality vaccines that maximise the growth potential of the high quality fries or fingerlings. And this will be done through demonstration trials to build farm's confidence in investing in better quality input.
Together, the National Broodstock Centre, Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme and Integrated Hatchery Support Programme create a reinforced aquaculture value chain for both sea-based and land-based farms that improve fry quality, increase yields and sharpen competitiveness.
Our offtake programmes have been making progress for the food types that matter most to Singapore's food resilience – and we aim to do better. Central to this effort is the Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (SAFEF), which has become the critical demand aggregation engine that matches our farms' production capacity with local needs.
Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked about the effectiveness of SAFEF's demand aggregation efforts. SAFEF has created sustainable brands like "The Straits Fish" and "SG Farmers' Market" now stocked in major supermarkets – FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Cold Storage and Giant, bringing local produce closer to the community. Public response has been encouraging. For example, the sales for xiao bai cai under the "SG Farmers' Market" brand have increased about sevenfold since its launch in May 2024.
We are expanding the demand aggregation model in 2026 with more product varieties and The Straits Fish marine tilapia ready-to-eat products. SAFEF will also partner more food and beverage (F&B) players to integrate SG Farmers' Market® product range in their menus. This effort aims to facilitate farms’ mainstream market penetration by connecting retail demands with a fragmented local farm supply chain. And this is just due to our small agriculture sector. In aggregated offtake programmes, we give farms the sales certainty they need to scale production. At the same time, supermarkets, hotels and caterers are given the confidence in a guaranteed reliable local supply for them to commit shelf space and marketing support.
The effectiveness of our Singapore Food Story also depends on our readiness to respond swiftly to disruptions. SFA is strengthening early warning systems to provide greater lead time for action. Our new risk monitoring dashboard and food supply visibility tool, developed with PSA BDP, provides early warnings of developments that may affect food imports and strengthens Singapore's upstream food supply chain visibility. This tool has already proven its value – it expedited our risk assessments during Brazil's Avian Influenza outbreaks in May last year and the recent conflict in the Middle East.
For aquaculture, we are upgrading our Harmful Algal Bloom Prediction Model to integrate forecasted weather conditions for more accurate environmental predictions. This will alert farms ahead of anticipated events so that they can implement mitigation measures like aeration or emergency harvests to minimise stock losses.
Together, these initiatives strengthen SFA's ability to assess, plan and mitigate supply disruption risks before they impact Singapore's food resilience. I thank Mr Foo Cexiang for his suggestions on our food pillars. Strong supply chain logistics are indeed a critical backbone for resilience. We will continue to work closely with relevant agencies and industry, including to consider your suggestions.
Chairman, building Singapore's food resilience requires all of us to move beyond individual interests and act with collective urgency. The Government will continue doing our part – be it investing in the ACT Fund 2, expanding the National Broodstock Centre, creating offtake programmes with SAFEF and strengthening early warning systems. But we cannot secure our food future alone.
I hope that businesses do more to support our local food production and our overall Singapore Food Story 2 efforts. Diversify your supply sources and commit to local production as a strategic buffer. Supermarkets should expand local produce shelf space, restaurants should join our Farm-to-Table Recognition Programme and food manufacturers should partner with SAFEF to develop local supply chains.
When you choose local suppliers, you are helping to invest in Singapore's food resilience that will protect your business during the next major disruption or major pandemic scenario. For consumers, your choices shape our collective resilience. Choose local produce even if it costs slightly more and be more flexible with our food choices during crises and shortages. That premium we pay for our local produce is our insurance for reliable food supply when things fail.
Chairman, our founding fathers understood that Singapore's survival depends on collective action over individual interests. As our founding Prime Minister often said, we must leave nothing to chance when it comes to Singapore's survival. Today, we apply that same principle to food resilience with the Singapore Food Story 2 – building comprehensive resilience through collective action, because our food future is too important to leave to chance alone.
The Chairman : Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh Hanyan.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (Ms Goh Hanyan) : Mr Chairman, climate adaptation can sound distant – something handled somewhere else by someone else. But in truth, it shows up in everyday life through the sudden downpour that disrupts your commute or the heat that lingers in your flat a little too long after sunset. These small but growing inconveniences tell us something important: the environment around us is changing and how we respond will shape how we live.
In simple terms, climate adaptation means getting ready for disruptions we know are coming. How can we help ourselves stay comfortable and stay safe as the climate shifts. For Singapore, this work is becoming more urgent. Yesterday, Minister Grace Fu announced, we are designating 2026 as our Year of Climate Adaptation. A year to increase awareness and bring everyone into the action.
At MSE, this reflects our unified approach to "we first". Everyone has a stake in how Singapore adapts and everyone has a role in making it work. Over the next few minutes, I will share how we are bringing this approach to life along our coasts, across our communities and in our daily action.
First, as a land scarce country, Singapore is vulnerable to rising seas. In simple terms, if we do nothing, each rise in sea level means less land for us.
We are already seeing some effects today. In January this year, spring tides flooded parts of East Coast Park, even without rain. This shows us that coastal flooding is not a distant future problem, it is happening now.
The Government has committed billions through the Coastal and Flood Protection Fund and this is a long-term investment measured in generations. At its core, coastal protection is about safeguarding land while supporting the way people and nature share our coasts. We see this in Singapore, where steel and concrete abut wilderness. I saw it myself when I joined a few nature group volunteers on an intertidal walk. Sea creatures like nudibranchs and sand dollars, right next to Tanah Merah ferry terminal.
We are speaking to communities about coastal protection measures and how they could be designed. This includes residents, businesses, researchers and nature groups, who all interact with our coast differently, yet care about it deeply.
I attended one of these sessions at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, discussing coastal protection around mangrove habitats. The conversation was rich of perspectives, discussing trade-offs and exploring how we might combine coastal protection measures with public spaces.
One suggestion that emerged was transforming the Kranji Tidal Gatehouse into a viewing deck. We are listening and we are onboarding these views as we develop our coastal protection measures across Singapore. Because when people help shapes what protects them, protection becomes something shared rather than something imposed.
Second, with extreme weather events happening more often, I am very sure everyone has been caught in unexpected heavy storms. We continue upgrading our drains and infrastructure, but no city can plan and build its way out of every possible storm. For true resilience, we must all be empowered to protect ourselves. As Ms Poh Li San highlighted, businesses can take a step to protect their premises from flooding.
To help them understand what those steps may be, PUB worked with industry through an Alliance-for-Action to develop a Flood Resilient Developments Guidebook. The Guidebook will be launched in mid-2026 on PUB's website. It will help business owners assess their flood exposure through a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Flood Risk Matrix and decide what protection measures they need for their properties. The guidance is practical and draws directly from industry experience.
11.00 am
Beyond what businesses can do, preparedness starts with each one of us. Look out for PUB's "Get Flood-wise in a F.L.A.S.H." campaign or join their outreach events. Learn simple actions to keep yourself and your family safe during heavy rains or floods.
Ms Nadia would be glad that we are bringing preparedness to your doorstep. Our teams are visiting flood-prone areas, distributing portable flood barriers that you can set up quickly. We have already distributed over 16,000 of these barriers and are continuing throughout this year. Join us and act now by subscribing to PUB's flood alerts on Telegram, X or on the MyENV app.
Next, coastal and flood protection are important to keeping Singapore safe and liveable. An engaged community is what truly makes the difference. We are encouraged to see communities across Singapore coming forward, coming together with solutions to protect our environment and promote sustainability.
We are supporting your efforts through the SG Eco Fund. Since 2020, the SG Eco Fund has awarded over $21 million to support close to 500 initiatives, engaging over 700,000 individuals.
I am particularly excited about an SG Eco Fund project tackling indoor heat for seniors, a topic less understood and not talked about enough. HeatAware SG by Sustainable Living Lab puts sensors in homes to help seniors understand temperature build-up and gives timely cooling advice.
One senior who they worked with had never used fans, even on hot days, a habit brought over from kampong days. But imagine, with rising temperatures, this risks heat stroke. With simple monitoring and gentle prompts, seniors are now empowered with the information they need to stay safe when it gets too hot.
Ultimately, to adapt, we must first see clearly. When we understand what is changing around us, we can prepare. That is how societies successfully weather change.
Ms Hany Soh asked about expanding the SG Eco Fund's scope to support more ground-up action. As climate risks grow, we need more focussed action. So, we are aligned on that.
That is why I am announcing the Climate Adaptation Package under the SG Eco Fund. Starting 1 May 2026, we will commit up to $5 million over two years to fund projects, like HeatAware SG, that build awareness and inspire action on climate adaptation topics. These topics, include heat resilience, as Mr Ng Shi Xuan, Mr David Hoe and Ms Valerie Lee highlighted; flood protection, water conservation and supporting local produce. We will open applications all year-round and increase funding for supportable project costs from 80% to 90%.
Climate change can feel overwhelming. But we believe you can make a difference. If you have ideas, take advantage of the SG Eco Fund. We want to hear from you and we are here to support you to turn your ideas into reality. To our young people, your energy and your ideas are exactly what we need to build a resilient Singapore, one that you can inherit with confidence.
Mr Lee Hong Chuang would be heartened to know that we are also committed to empowering our young people in building resilience beyond our shores. The National Youth Council's Singapore-Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) Youth Fund supports youth sustainability projects across Southeast Asia. They can also volunteer in sustainability projects overseas through the Youth Corps Expedition Project.
Finally, climate adaptation is also about daily behaviour – the habits we form, the choices we make and the responsibilities we all carry as individuals.
Let me now say a few words in Mandarin about the Beverage Container Return Scheme and how daily actions can drive sustainability.
( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Singapore is facing severe challenges brought about by climate change. We must seek better solutions to adapt to these changes. MSE hopes to encourage all sectors of society to work together with us to make sustainability a part of our daily lives.
The Beverage Container Return Scheme that Dr Janil Puthucheary mentioned yesterday is a good example. Starting next month, supermarkets, hawker centres, coffee shops and some retail outlets will gradually begin selling bottled and canned beverages that are printed or attached with the scheme's deposit mark.
To help consumers adapt to the scheme, local major supermarkets will uniformly adopt the following practices. The prices displayed on shelves will not include the 10-cent deposit. Supermarkets will clearly inform consumers that they need to pay an additional 10-cent deposit at checkout. Smaller retailers may adopt different pricing methods. We will continue to work with them to ensure that pricing for bottled and canned beverages remain clear and transparent.
After finishing the drinks, consumers can put the marked containers into reverse vending machines to retrieve the 10-cent deposit. SimplyGo EZ-Link cards and concession cards or DBS PayLah! can be used to retrieve the deposit. The new scheme will not only increase the recycling rates of beverage containers but also encourage Singaporeans to develop good recycling habits.
Before launching BCRS, we consulted F&B operators extensively and identified two feasible approaches for recycling containers. The first approach is to pour canned beverages into cups for customers to enjoy or to collect the container after consumers finish their drinks. In such cases, F&B operators will not charge customers the 10-cent deposit.
We will classify this category of operators as "Return Right F&B" merchants. These F&B operators will display notices in their stores to inform customers that they will not be charged a deposit. We understand that operators who choose to collect the containers themselves need to put in more effort to modify their work processes. To assist these operators, we will provide a one-time subsidy of $500 for each "Return Right F&B" outlet. Operators can submit their applications to the National Environment Agency (NEA).
The second approach is to charge customers who purchase canned beverages a 10-cent deposit. After finishing their drinks, customers can put the container into any reverse vending machine to retrieve their 10-cent deposit. This model will be more practical for most coffee shop and hawker centre stall owners.
Implementing and perfecting a new policy takes time. During this transition period, we seek the public's support and understanding. At the same time, we also welcome feedback and suggestions for our reference and improvement.
As long as we work together, we can all do our part to protect the environment.
( In English ): Mr Chairman, climate adaptation is about preparing early and acting together. From coasts to floods to community action, each effort depends on all of us. This is how nations endure, by adapting together, preparing early and building for generations. The Government will continue investing for the long-term and we invite every Singaporean to be part of this effort. Because that is what "we first" means – a shared responsibility for a shared future. [ Applause. ]
The Chairman : Ms Poh Li San.
Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang West) : Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Minister, Senior Minister of State and also the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. I have a question for Senior Minister of State Dr Janil. I highlighted the expensive irony of food waste in Singapore and asked for MSE's plans and efforts to reduce food waste, and in his reply, Dr Janil mentioned only the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. I would like to highlight that this Act was a Private Members' Bill led by former Member of Parliament Mr Louis Ng, Ms Hany Soh, Mr Edward Chia and myself, together with a large committee of green activists and stakeholders, through five years of consultation and ground-up efforts.
At an average of 128 kilogrammes of food waste per capita per year, and this is an increasing trend, Singapore ranks amongst the top 15 countries worldwide with highest food waste per capita. The restaurants and hotels alone are responsible for about 28% of food waste and that is a substantial proportion for a small group. I would like to ask Dr Janil, will there be further plans and efforts by MSE to reduce food waste and will there be more targeted collaboration with the restaurants and hotel sector to reverse the growing trend of food waste?
The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Dr Janil Puthucheary) : Sir, the short answer is, yes. We do indeed want to improve our food waste management and encourage all the stakeholders involved to participate. We have, as Ms Poh has highlighted, a number of mechanisms and platforms, as well as legislation in place. We would like to make sure those are fully utilised and continue to work with stakeholders to then study how we can improve the processes.
At the moment, we are focusing, in the news and in the House on other waste streams – plastics and packaging – but indeed, food waste is something that we do need to think very seriously about because of the opportunity that it presents in terms of reducing our wastage, improving our resource recycling and reducing the amount that is diverted towards waste and landfill.
The Chairman : Ms Hany Soh.
Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee) : Thank you, Chairman. I have two clarifications. The first is in relation to the Beverage Container Return Scheme. I understand from Senior Minister of State Dr Janil's speech yesterday that the "Return Right" F&B outlets will be given a specific decal to inform consumers about their plans. In this regard, I wish to ask whether the decals have already been distributed to all of these stakeholders and are we looking at implementing it by 1 April as well? And to further avoid any confusion among the patrons in the F&B outlets, can we explore having a centralised compiled list of these vendors and perhaps put it on MyENV app?
The second clarification is in relation to the SG Eco Fund. It is heartening to hear from the Minister that $50 million granted since November 2020 has engaged more than 700,000 people on sustainability related efforts. In this aspect, can I check whether we have also been keeping track in terms of the amount of the waste or energy and water resources that we have conserved through rolling out of this initiative through the SG Eco Funds? As I mentioned in my speech, it is important to actually measure to manage the outcomes.
Dr Janil Puthucheary : Sir, I thank Ms Hany Soh for her questions. The decals are available if the F&B outlets sign up to be part of the "Return Right" F&B scheme. I would not want Members to think that this has to be done by 1 April. Even after 1 April, an F&B outlet can choose to sign up.
But if it has not yet signed up and is not on the list as a "Return Right" F&B outlet, then they have an obligation to charge the 10-cent deposit for the 10-cent deposit to follow the container with the customer. Whoever has the container then has the responsibility to deal with it. So, the decals are available. We will be distributing them to outlets that sign up, either before 1 April or after.
The idea of a centralised list is something we can certainly look at and consider.
The Chairman : The clarifications are getting longer. The guillotine time is 11.30 am. Yes, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh.
Ms Goh Hanyan : To Ms Hany Soh's question about whether we measure the outcomes of SG Eco Fund. Today, we do not measure the outcomes in terms of the way that the Member has described, in terms of waste reduced or energy saved. However, we do track in terms of the number of applicants that come forward, the profile of the applicants and the quality of the projects that we get. This is mainly because the SG Eco Fund was started with the objective of empowering and to increase awareness of sustainability objectives. However, over time, as the fund evolves and matures, we could consider.
The Chairman : Mr David Hoe, for your two cuts and seven minutes.
Mr David Hoe (Jurong East-Bukit Batok) : Thank you, Chairman. I have two clusters of question. The first is regarding the how of the climate adaptation plan, and second is about the Beverage Container Return Scheme.
The Minister mentioned yesterday that heat advisories will be sent out through the myENV app. I think that is really useful because most of us have a smart phone today. Yesterday, what I did was, after Parliament, I went to meet my grassroot leaders, in a room of more than 40 grassroot leaders, and I shared this with my grassroot leaders. Then, I asked, "With a show of hands, how many of us actually have the myENV app?" It was only a handful of grassroot leaders who downloaded this myENV app. So, I would like to ask, whether from MSE's point of view, do we know what is the current number of people who downloaded this app? What is our view to that?
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After that, in my head, I was, "Oh no, for those uncles and aunties 不认英文字怎么办?" So, I started scrolling through the app and I tried to change the language setting to Mandarin —
The Chairman : Mr Hoe, can you get to your clarification? I just asked that everyone be precise.
Mr David Hoe : Okay. My question is whether the app itself has a multilingual feature so that our seniors or those who are not fully competent in English will be able to use this app.
On the second question regarding the Beverage Container Return Scheme, I am supportive of the recycling efforts and the deployment of 1,000 reverse vending machines (RVMs). I would like to clarify whether in areas in Clementi such as Faber Hills Estate, where it is a mixture of landed and densely populated condominiums with no large supermarkets, will there be a deployment of an RVM there? If the answer is not yet, would we consider prioritising condominiums that are densely populated such as The Trilinq and Parc Clematis in Clementi?
Dr Janil Puthucheary : Sir, if I could address the question on the RVMs first. Certainly, and I would ask Mr Hoe and all Members if there are specific locations that they think would be better served by an RVM, we do have a plan to double the number from the initial deployment and we are looking at feedback to decide where those RVMs should be placed.
We will also be looking at the usage patterns of the first 1,000 to help us understand where we would locate them. But if there are specific locations, we would be more than happy to consider them.
The Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien) : Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to respond to Member David Hoe's comment on heat advisories.
We have about one million subscribers who have downloaded the myENV app. Obviously, I think that is a lot more that we can do and we should encourage more Singaporeans to download it. The issues that Mr Hoe has mentioned about language accessibility is precisely what we like to hear from you during this engagement over the Year of Climate Adaptation.
Also, I would like to put on record my thanks to many Members who have given us very well thought-through, considered suggestions on how we should improve the heat resilience of the country. I think that these will be gold nuggets that we could incorporate into our adaptation plan.
The Chairman : Ms Lee Hui Ying, y our three cuts in six minutes.
Ms Lee Hui Ying (Nee Soon) : Thank you, Mr Chair. I just have two quick clarifications for Senior Minister of State Janil.
First, regarding the pilot that NEA is going through with the Town Councils on the surveillance camera deployments. Can I get further granular details in terms of the length of this pilot that is ongoing? How long would it be taking? How are these locations being identified for surveillance camera deployment?
Second, on second-hand smoke. I note the additional smoking prohibitions that are in place. I am just wondering whether NEA could consider AI-enabled technology to be used, especially on smoke detection as well.
Dr Janil Puthucheary : Sir, the nature of the pilot is that we are trying to empower the Town Councils to make some of those decisions about the location and the enforcement action that they would like NEA's assistance to support. It is a pilot to see how well this can work, but the intent is to make sure that, in working in partnership with the Town Councils, we increase the responsiveness to ground feedback and shorten the time cycle, increase the speed of the deployment and the potential enforcement action.
So, we are still studying and certainly we would be happy to work with Ms Lee and everyone else in terms of improving the responsiveness of NEA to the Town Councils' intelligence or sense-making, in order to do this better.
Certainly, AI-enabled technology is already being piloted together with some visual recognition technology for the purposes of detection of offences, such as Ms Lee had described.
The Chairman : Mr Ng Shi Xuan.
Mr Ng Shi Xuan (Sembawang) : Thank you, Chairman. Just two quick remarks on my food resilience points.
The first being that I thank Senior Minister of State Zaqy for framing it from global partnerships to trusted partnerships. Will the Ministry consider giving us a report card on how these global partnerships have been different from our diversifying imports strategy besides going into specific details.
Point two is, while I made quite a pitch for plant-based and alternative proteins, I also note that 25% of Asia Pacific's alternative proteins are already based in Singapore. Can the Ministry make a commitment to make sure that our plant-based protein and alternative protein scene will somehow make its way back into the Singapore Food Story in the future, as I note that the National University of Singapore has some successful cases where they have created viable products for us?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad : I thank the Member for his questions. On alternative proteins, that is still in play. Although today, the market demand is not where one would have thought it would be, so there is a bit of challenge for those who are producing alternative proteins. But the Member is also right, that there are some who have pivoted to providing alternative proteins in other forms. We are still continuing to fund research and development (R&D) costs for a number of these outfits out here in Singapore.
We are seeing companies increasingly adopting, for example, business-to-business (B2B) partnership models rather than going to just market independently their own product. To give some examples, they work with food corporates to allow some of these startups to leverage existing manufacturing, distribution and brand capabilities. For example, they also provide cell-based seafood cultivation platforms like Umami Bioworks. They developed a joint-production agreement with the Japanese seafood producer Maruha Nichiro to develop and commercialise cell-cultivated tuna.
So, it is not that they are not viable or not feasible, just that cost-wise, I think the market is not yet ready for this at full scale. But I think there is certainly potential and we will continue to support.
On the Member's other question, which was on global partnerships, this is at a very nascent stage. As I have shared, we have only started signing some of these agreements last year. So, it is an evolution beyond just what we used to call "grow overseas".
Right now, with partnerships, you have a variety of things that you can do: government-to-government agreements. Some parts of it, like with Brunei, we are exploring how we could look at growing aquaculture, for example, as I mentioned in my speech; and with New Zealand, there are other types of agreements that we put in place. So, I think the global partnerships today allow us to do different things with different like-minded economies that will help us build our food resilience in times of crisis.
But do give us a bit of time because this is fairly nascent and new, but certainly, we will make a report when the time comes.
The Chairman : Mr Foo Cexiang, for your six-minute cut.
Mr Foo Cexiang (Tanjong Pagar) : Mr Chairman, I just seek a response from the Ministry on my cut on supporting our Pioneer hawkers.
Ms Goh Hanyan : Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Foo for his clarification and I appreciate his engagement with our Pioneer hawkers in his constituency, which is an extremely important segment of our culture.
He raised questions and concerns about rental transition when family members take over pioneer hawker stalls. So, when a subsidised stall is transferred to an immediate family member of the first-generation subsidised rent-holder, we have a special provision to allow him or her to pay subsidised rental rate. However, for transfers to other family members and relatives, for example, third-generation relatives, we provide a reasonable timeframe of three years for the rent to be staggered from subsidised rent to market rent.
Mr Foo also raised a second point on allowing Work Permit holders as stall assistance for stalls operating over 10 years and this was somewhat addressed yesterday during Question Time as well. We recently expanded the pool to include Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) and LTVP+ holders who are already in Singapore and can contribute to our economy. This move was carefully considered to help ease manpower challenges while also preserving the local identity and heritage, and the complexion of our hawker centre and our hawker culture. We will monitor the impact because this is a very recent move and we will contemplate further moves if necessary.
The Chairman : Ms Nadia Samdin.
Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio) : Thank you, Chairman. I have three follow-up questions. The first is regarding food resilience and the initial plans for the Lim Chu Kang Agri-District. Could the Minister of State please elaborate on that.
The second, I am very glad to hear of the top-up to the ACT Fund. Does the Ministry track progress and utility of the funds dispersed and are there details of project closures or unsuccessful projects once disbursed?
The last one is on flood resilience. I am glad to hear about the plans to build community resilience. Could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary please elaborate, beyond the PUB SMS alert service, are there emergency rescue and evacuation drills that the PUB intends to carry out?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad : Thank you to the Member. Sir, I just want to assure the Member that the Lim Chu Kang masterplan, though I have not mentioned it in my speech, is pretty much still central to our master-planning – just that it is a bit more longer term and we were just focusing on what we are planning to do today. Nonetheless, we are still hard at work on it, with inter-agency planning, to look at how we can better optimise the land use, infrastructure needs as well as environmental considerations of how we can get this done a lot better.
At the same time, it is important that as we do master-planning, it is not just about infrastructure. There are also market aspects that we need to consider, such as market-sensing, technical studies, developing new concepts and ideas. You do not want just to build farms as you see them today, but farms of tomorrow. We are looking at, for example, multi-tenanted facilities that can make better use of shared services to help our farms survive, build more climate resilient facilities. This puts us on the map for new developments in future that we can also consolidate.
Also, I spoke about how we are looking at integrating some of the things like logistics, supply chain management. That, I think helps optimise land use and certainly facilities and shared services for our companies.
So, these are a bit more longer-term. In the meantime, I assure Members that our plans are still in play. For farms that need land, we are still providing our land use tenders, so, those will still continue.
Our ACT Fund, as I have announced, has just been expanded and enhanced. In short, we do track. In fact, as I announced earlier, we have funded about $55 million in the last few years under ACT 1, and that covers about 150 projects across 60 companies. Thus far, the numbers that have folded are very small – I think only about two out of 60, so that is about a 3% failure rate. For the most of it, we are seeing most of these farms providing higher yields, better production levels and producing what we need locally.
I assure Members that we are constantly tracking and doing our best to support our local farms.
Ms Goh Hanyan : Sir, to the Member's question, before that, I should also highlight that apart from the alerts that happen through the myENV app, we have also expanded our reach through new collaborations to ensure flood information reaches Singaporeans through multiple touch points such as, currently, the Electronic Road Pricing On-Board Units to disseminate flood alerts. This brings the information directly to our citizens.
In terms of emergency evacuation drills, PUB has been partnering with different communities. For example, I attended a session together with one of the Residents' Networks and Community Emergency and Engagement, that they organised to bring together citizens or their residents to understand what kind of plans should they put in place for their unique locales' needs; and from there, to generate and to create their own way of supporting their own neighbours and friends during a flood incident.
We are hoping to go out there and partner with more communities to activate them and to get them thinking about what to do during an emergency.
Finally, I should also add that we have then enhanced our flood monitoring capabilities through water level sensors and closed-circuit televisions so that PUB ourselves can deploy quick response teams as fast as possible in times of flood.
The Chairman : Mr Pritam Singh, even though you filed a very short cut, you have been putting up your hand persistently. You can ask the last clarification.
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied) : Much obliged, Chairman. It is a quick one. In my cut, I asked about the metrics NEA uses to determine whether appointed public waste collectors should increase the frequency of collection from the larger recycling bins. I do not believe I heard a reply from Senior Minister of State Janil on that.
In concert with that, there was a trial that was announced in Parliament which NEA was undertaking with a public waste collector to evaluate the setting up of a recycling bin sensor system that would trigger when there is bin overflow. I understand that was delayed arising from COVID-19. I would be obliged if the Senior Minister of State could share what has been the result of that pilot.
Dr Janil Puthucheary : Sir, NEA specifies a minimum collection frequency of three times a week for the smaller blue bins and once a week for the larger-capacity 2,200-litre side-loader recycling bins in HDB estates. We also require our public waste collectors to clear the recyclables from the blue bins on a regular schedule, specifically so that the bins do not overflow and to attend to feedback within 24 hours. So, those are the metrics that we track.
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We would also like to take this opportunity to ask all of us to play our part. If we use the blue bins correctly, do not discard rubbish there, then the likelihood of them overflowing and becoming an eyesore or a problem within our estates would reduce. The need for increased collections for what should be recyclables rather than waste would also reduce, and then the ability to recover the material for useable feedstock for recycling streams would also improve.
Mr Singh also asked a question about AI technology. The issue is to increase the specificity and sensitivity, so that we are not generating too many false positives or false negatives through this, and so that work is in progress.
The Chairman : Ms Poh Li San, could I invite you to withdraw your amendment?
11.31 am
Ms Poh Li San : Mr Chairman, on behalf of all hon Members who have participated in the MSE Committee of Supply, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Minister Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State Zaqy, Senior Minister of State Janil, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh and all members of MSE, PUB, NEA, SFA.
Mr Chairman, I seek leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $2,890,738,400 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $820,076,600 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]