Lessons from six years of loving MacRitchie

What a ride it has been. After a demonstration, a petition, countless walks, talks and roadshows, here we are. Not the best place to be, for no matter how we reason with ourselves, the feeling of defeat hangs heavy in the air. Yet, we know we cannot afford to linger. The CRL will not be …

Summary: Q&A with LTA & ERM on EIA Phase II report

What’s with the one month of “critical” residual impacts? What are “qualitative night-time bird surveys”? Have the impacts of evacuation procedures been studied? LTA released its EIA Phase II report for the Cross Island Line early last month and have been accepting public feedback on the issue. LOMF took some time to read the report …

LTA releases CRL EIA Phase II report

The EIA Phase II report is out! This report documents the projected impacts and mitigation measures for both alignment routes of the Cross Island MRT line (under the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, or around it). Although no decision has been made on the alignment, this report is likely a major factor the government will consider …

The CRL Chronicles (mid-2019 review)

It has been several years since the Cross Island MRT Line was announced, with part of it slated to possibly run under MacRitchie Forest, within the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Finding it hard to keep up with the developments? No worries – here is everything that has happened so far in a handy timeline! The …

High time to re-evaluate nature’s worth in Singapore?

Over the weekend, our friend Teresa Teo Guttensohn at Cicada Tree Eco-Place penned her thoughts on the value of our natural heritage in Singapore in The Straits Times. That certainly struck a chord with us. Given the recent developments in and close to our last remaining tracts of primary and secondary forests, including the Cross …

EIA discussed in Parliament – what it means for Love MacRitchie

Recently, Second Minister for the Ministry of National Development Desmond Lee gave a speech at the Committee of Supply Debate, touching on issues of resilience in our country. Read the full speech here. On the topic of climate resilience, Minister Lee's statement on the conduct of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) stands as particularly relevant to …

CRL Phase One to open in 2029 with 12 stations – Channel NewsAsia

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/cross-island-line-mrt-first-twelve-stations-2029-11165478 The first phase of the MRT line, spanning 12 stations from the East of Singapore to the doorstep of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, will begin operations in 2029. Beyond that, the government is still deliberating on whether the CRL should tunnel under or around the nature reserve. As the development of the CRL …

Love MacRitchie’s 2018 in Review

By most accounts, 2018 would have been a year of major ups and downs: the Paris Agreement rulebook was hammered out, the last male Northern white rhinoceros in the world died and the Trump-Kim summit was held in Singapore. For us? It’s been a year of waiting. The closely-monitored intrusive soil investigation and environmental impact …

Questions on Cross Island Line works from the community

In the past two weeks, we have been collaborating with the nature community and the wider public to generate a set of questions regarding works on the Cross Island MRT line (CRL). These questions were raised as we feel that information about the monitoring programme and results has not been forthcoming. In the press release dated …

Invitation to ask LTA questions on Cross Island MRT Line development

Submit your questions by 30 June 2018 at http://tinyurl.com/lomf-30jun2018 Dear friends of the nature community and Love MacRitchie supporters, The Land Transport Authority (LTA) shared a press release on 9 June 2018 on the findings of the wildlife monitoring programme undertaken in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) during the soil investigation works for the Cross Island …