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Are we maintaining our national infrastructure well enough?

We have read about water pipes bursting in Bukit Batok recently, and materials being used on walls of buildings that do not meet fire safety standards.

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Peter Loon Seng Chee

We have read about water pipes bursting in Bukit Batok recently, and materials being used on walls of buildings that do not meet fire safety standards.

Our trains also fail on a regular basis.

Singapore is now more than half-a-century old as an independent nation. Some parts of our infrastructure are even older.

So it should come as no surprise that things will break down.

However, it’s our response to this, and proactive actions taken to prevent further degradation of our national infrastructure that prevents unnecessary delays, loss of productivity, and potential loss of lives.

We went through a phase of rapid development, and perhaps, some things have outlived their replacement cycles.

Coupled with a culture of cost-cutting and profit-making, we now reap the consequences of our actions, even though it can be said that proper maintenance is cheaper than urgent last-minute repairs.

There have been suggestions to tear down the Bukit Panjang LRT system, for example, but so far, it looks like the system would be overhauled and upgraded instead of being removed.

Drastic action may be needed in the next few years as our country ages. Sometimes it’s necessary to bite the bullet, to rebuild rather than repair.

This goes for our older train systems, public utilities and even buildings.

We also need to retain engineers and other related personnel who know our systems, even if that affects the bottomline.

A country governed by how much savings or profits that were made in the fiscal year is a dangerous one.

As we move into the next 50 years, let’s be wiser in managing our finances as we seek to keep our buildings standing tall, and roads and trains running smoothly.

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