Sembawang residents to get swimming complex

Sembawang residents who met the People’s Action Party (PAP) team that will be contesting in the area in the coming election were given the good news yesterday that they will be getting a swimming complex in the town.

In a “Kopi Chat” dialogue session with residents, held after new candidates Ong Ye Kung and Amrin Amin were introduced to the media, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who is anchoring the PAP slate, said it had taken a while for the town to receive a swimming complex because it previously did not have a sizeable enough population to justify building one.

Apart from news on the new swimming complex, residents were also given more details on the healthcare facility coming up in the town, which will be the first of its kind. It will have all the features of a polyclinic, but will also come with extra healthcare services, such as specialist clinics and laboratories.

Member of Parliament (MP) Lim Wee Kiak, whose ward has been shifted from Nee Soon to Sembawang under the redrawn electoral boundaries, described it as a “polyclinic plus”.

“This primary healthcare centre is quite a new concept; it is a ‘polyclinic plus’, in the sense that you have all the capabilities of a polyclinic ... We are still working with Ministry of Health on what exactly the facilities will be,” he told reporters.

The facility was announced as part of the Sembawang Community Hub project in Parliament in March.

During the dialogue, a resident, who will be moved from Nee Soon GRC to Sembawang GRC because of the electoral boundary changes, asked about the PAP’s transition plans for people such as him. He cited the example of pending cases handled by their current MPs.

In response, Mr Ong said they would not artificially carve communities based on electoral boundary lines. For instance, the team will work with town councils from both GRCs, and the Meet-the-People sessions will also be located in accessible areas for such residents.

Apart from municipal transport issues, residents also asked if the Sembawang Hot Spring will be sealed off. Mr Ong assured them that it would not be, and said amenities such as toilets, vending machines and benches could be added there. SIAU MING EN