UTILIZATION OF SINGAPORE'S OFFSHORE ISLETS

Abstract

It has often been said that there is scarcity of land resources in Singapore. While the question of severity of this scarcity problem is debatable, its existence has been recognized. This accounts for the country's quest for alternative land resources - like the offshore islets and 'creating' land resources through land reclamation - for the past two decades. There have also been attempts to ensure 'optimal' use of the resources. These issues are within the domain of resource economics. While it is not the intention of this academic exercise to dwell into the intricacies of this branch of the economics discipline, it does attempt to explore a specific source of land available here - the offshore islets. It is felt that in order to determine the potential of these islets from this point, some understanding of their utilization patterns, limitations and problems is necessary. In view of the lack of literature available on offshore islets, this study is limited in many ways. However, it is hoped that the information obtained from interviews with various Government agencies have, in some ways, compensated for the deficiencies. The academic exercise begins with an introduction of the offshore islets which surround the main island of Singapore and gives a general overview of the roles they have played in the country's economic development. The history of the islets, legal and planning frameworks within which they may be best understood are discussed in Chapter II. Chapter III highlights their resources availability together with a discussion on the population trends of these islets. An exploratory study of the various uses and development patterns will be taken up in Chapter IV. This chapter also attempts to give suggestions on the possible uses and/or alternative uses for some of these islets based on limited knowledge. In the concluding chapter, a brief discussion on the question of 'optimal' use will be taken up followed by a summary of the future prospects of the islets. As a matter of opinion, the writer is inclined to agree with the general view that the offshore islets have served the country welt in providing land resources for the various economic activities. Here again, as a rule of thumb to guard against complacency in the management of these vital resources, it is suggested that constant review of the uses and alternative uses and the search for 'rooms of improvement' be carried out. However, in view of the problems associated with the use of economic analysis to determine the 'optimal' use of these resources, decisions on the uses and alternative uses of these offshore islets can often be subjective.