Western Water Catchment

Western Water Catchment
Planning Area
Other transcription(s)
• Chinese	西部集水区
• Pinyin	Xībù jíshuǐqū
• Malay	Kawasan Tadahan Air Barat
• Tamil	மேற்கத்திய நீர் நீர்ப்பிடிப்பு
From top to bottom: An overview of Pasir Laba Camp, soldiers at the Murai Urban Training Facility
Western Water Catchment Area
Western Water Catchment Location in Singapore
Coordinates: 1°23′13″N 103°41′31″E / 1.387°N 103.692°E / 1.387; 103.692Coordinates: 1°23′13″N 103°41′31″E / 1.387°N 103.692°E / 1.387; 103.692
Country	Singapore
Region	West Region
CDC	South West CDC
Town councils	Chua Chu Kang Town Council
Constituencies	Chua Chu Kang GRC
Government
• Mayor	South West CDC Low Yen Ling
• Members of Parliament	Chua Chu Kang GRC Don Wee Boon Hong West Coast GRC Ang Wei Neng Foo Mee Har
Area [1]
• Total	69.5 km2 (26.8 sq mi)
Area rank	1st
Population  (2018)[1][2]
• Total	720
• Rank	38th
• Density	10/km2 (27/sq mi)
• Density rank	41st
Postal district	24

The Western Water Catchment is a planning area located in the West Region of Singapore. The planning area borders Tuas and Pioneer to its south, Sungei Kadut, Choa Chu Kang and Tengah to its east, Jurong West to its southeast, Lim Chu Kang to its north and the Straits of Johor to its west.

The area currently houses four reservoirs, Tengeh Reservoir, Poyan Reservoir, Murai Reservoir and Sarimbun Reservoir. The Western Water Catchment is also a live-firing area in which it is used by the Singapore Armed Forces for training purposes. It is also a restricted area in which it is out of bounds to all members in the public except for military personnel from Pasir Laba Camp (South) and Sungei Gedong Camp (North).

The SAFTI Live Firing Area commenced operations in 1968 and was revamped in 2008, the eastern part began operations in 2002 and has been extended to Lim Chu Kang Tracks 11 and 13, but it has been remained unnamed, and it could be named 'Murai North'.

Districts[]

There are 15 districts in Western Water Catchment.

• Bahtera
• Bajau
• Kapal
• Lorong Danau
• Murai
• Murai North
• Nanyang Bridge
• Nanyang Crescent
• Nanyang Gateway
• Pasir Laba
• Peng Kang Hill
• Poyan
• SAFTI City
• Sarimbun
• Sungei Gedong
• Thousand Oaks
• Wrexham

Education[]

There is only one university in the Western Water Catchment which is Nanyang Technological University and National Institute of Education. In addition, there is also one adventure camp called MOE OALC Jalan Bahtera, situated near to Sarimbun Reservoir and is accessible through Bahtera Track.

Camps and bases[]

There are three main military bases in the Western Water Catchment. These include Pasir Laba Camp, Choa Chu Kang Camp at Lorong Danau (where the RSAF's 201 Squadron is based; it has Fighter control, SAM control, Surveillance and ASP)^[3] and Sungei Gedong Camp (HQ Armour). A military aerostat, widely referred to as a blimp locally, is tethered to the ground at Choa Chu Kang Camp as part of testing for use as long-range air defence radar in Singapore.^[4] Additionally, there are various live-firing ranges in the Western Water Catchment; these include the Multi-Mission Range Complex, MATADOR Range, M203 Range, several SAFTI ranges and the Poyan 300m Range.

In the Murai area, there are more military training areas which are the Murai Urban Live Firing Facility (MULFAC), Murai Urban Training Facility (MUTF) and MEXCON. These will be affected under the proposed Lim Chu Kang Road realignment project for the expanded Tengah Air Base, along with the construction of the new SAFTI City. The stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road between Neo Tiew Road and Old Choa Chu Kang Road will be permanently closed and given to make way for an expanded Tengah Air Base.

Pasir Laba Camp is accessible by Pasir Laba Road, while the Wrexham Road provide alternative entry-points located just near to Tuas Police Training Village and Tuas Checkpoint, whereas Sungei Gedong Camp is accessible through Sungei Gedong Road (main entrance to the camp), while Sarimbun Avenue and Jalan Bahtera provide alternative entry-points. The live-firing area boundary is bounded by the Straits of Johor, Tengeh Reservoir (River), the intersection of Raffles Golf Course, Peng Kang Hill/Pasir Laba Camp, PIE, Nanyang Drive, Nanyang Crescent, Nanyang Avenue, Jalan Bahar, Old Choa Chu Kang Road, National Shooting Centre boundary, an imaginary boundary with the MUTF, Jalan Murai, Lim Chu Kang Road and Bahtera Track. Certain parts of Sungei Gedong Road as well as Old Choa Chu Kang Road are still accessible, with only side roads along these main roads restricted to prevent trespassing into live-firing areas. Army camps at Pasir Laba and Sungei Gedong are gated and guarded around the clock for security reasons. For side roads including Wrexham Road, CCTVs are in operation 24/7 and wired to the SAF Training Resource Management Centre (TRMC). Warning signboards are also visible at the gates on both main and side roads, together with the signboard "Please Obtain The Gate Key From The Guardroom of Pasir Laba Camp/Sungei Gedong Camp", depending on the training location. For Lorong Danau's road entry, although it is connected from Nanyang Avenue (just outside NTU's entrance), few to some portions of the road are accessible to the public; one part from Jalan Sungei Poyan and the Choa Chu Kang Camp stretch to 850m away from the Nanyang Avenue are restricted.

History[]

The SAFTI Live Firing Area was drawn out in 1967 and marked all around there are 504 warning signs in the vicinity (these indicate "Danger Live Firing Area-KEEP CLEAR"). Before the drawing-up and gazetting of the live-firing zone, most residents and occupants living within the affected boundaries were shifted to Boon Lay as its pioneer residents and factories there were relocated to the Jurong Industrial Area, leaving only a few villages behind (all were gone by the early 1990s). On 14 July 1968, four villagers died and nine others were injured in the live-firing area (near Kampong Berih, one of many rural villages in the area) and seven other villagers snuck into Pasir Laba (on the coastline of the Johor Straits) by sampans to pick durians and rambutans from the many fruit trees in the forest there. These villagers were injured by mortar rounds in their attempt to collect fruits.^[5] There are many cases of trespassers in the live firing area.^[6]

Numerous military sentries are posted at 11 entrance points at Pasir Laba Camp to keep out trespassers. In addition, all other roads leading into the area, such as those in the rural Lim Chu Kang area, are gated and show warning signs, preventing unauthorised vehicles from entering. With all the rural villages gone by 1995, the rural village names were even renamed to the prospective location names in the SAFTI Live Firing Area such as Wrexham, SAFTI City and Thousand Oaks. Currently, the whole of the Lam Kiong Estate area was renamed to Wrexham, for military reasons. In September 2008, Training Resource Management Centre (TRMC) officers have standardised the live-firing area signs in all four official languages of Singapore (namely English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil) with an image of a soldier pointing a rifle at a trespasser, but in the later part of 2014, TRMC added "Do Not Go Beyond This Line Without Authorisation - Live Firing in Progress" on the sign. Keeping out trespassers into the live-firing area have been discussed in Pasir Laba Camp's annual general meetings. In 2017, the signs were changed to "Do Not Go Beyond This Point. Live Firing Area - KEEP CLEAR!" by Training Resource Management Centre, and the previously-used warning image was altered to show the widely recognised skull-and-crossbones deadly-hazard symbol. These new signboards can be widely found near NTU's western edges, Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Jalan Murai and Lim Chu Kang Road.^[7] However, these measures are only partially effective, and there are still many who enter the restricted military training grounds, especially for the purpose of picking wild fruits such as durians.

Reservoirs[]

As of 2017, this water catchment has a total of 4 reservoirs.

Tengeh Reservoir[]

Tengeh Reservoir
Tengeh Reservoir
Location	Western Water Catchment
Coordinates	1°20′45″N 103°38′50″E / 1.34583°N 103.64722°E / 1.34583; 103.64722
Type	reservoir
Basin countries	Singapore

Tengeh Reservoir (Malay: Tadahan Air Tengeh; Chinese: 登格蓄水池) was formerly a river, , which emptied into the Straits of Johor and was dammed to become a reservoir in the early 1980s (which is part of 'Western Water Catchment Scheme'). It is located at Wrexham and Bajau districts. Construction of the reservoir began on 11 March 1977.^[8]

Tengeh Reservoir is part of the SAFTI Live Firing Area (South) and has restricted access since 19 January 1992,^[9] where possible there are two bridges at the ends of the vicinity; accessible by both Pasir Laba Road and Wrexham Road. One is for road at the western end called "Wrexham Bridge", which is just a road bridge which connects Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim and Wrexham Drive, next to Tuas Checkpoint and one is for walking at the eastern end next to Pasir Laba Road and Tengeh Pumping Station. The western end of Pasir Laba Road is also located at the Elephant West Hill, where it becomes Wrexham Drive straightaway. The Chinese name of the reservoir sounds similar to the English one.

On 11 April 1991, there was a naked body of a woman floating in the reservoir.^[10]

The southern side of Tengeh Reservoir is the Raffles Country Club, and the golf areas can see the reservoir clearly. The Raffles Country Club construction began on 29 October 1987. The government of Singapore has made the second large acquisition of land for the project by requiring Raffles Country Club to vacate its plot as the site offers the "most suitable location" to run the HSR tracks after the bridge crossing and to place the tunnel portal leading to the tunnels that would take the HSR to the Jurong East terminus. The site has to be vacated by July 31, 2018, to be used for HSR crossover tracks and a siding facility to temporarily house a train near the border for safety or operational reasons.^[11]

On 3 November 2011, Public Utilities Board (PUB) and Economic Development Board (EDB), had decided to install floating solar panel at Tengeh Reservoir, which is part of S$11 million project. This is the first solar panel to be at the reservoir/river, and Western Water Catchment (Located at Wrexham Village).^[12] The proposed capacity is 50 MW.^[13]

Poyan Reservoir[]

Poyan Reservoir
Poyan Reservoir
Location	Western Water Catchment
Coordinates	1°22′37″N 103°39′50″E / 1.37694°N 103.66389°E / 1.37694; 103.66389
Type	reservoir
Basin countries	Singapore

Poyan Reservoir (Malay: Tadahan Air Poyan; Chinese: 波扬蓄水池) was previously part of the river and its delta, which was dammed to become a reservoir. Sungei Poyan emptied into the Straits of Johor. It is located in SAFTI City, Poyan and Bajau districts. Construction of the reservoir began on 11 March 1977.^[8]

On 27 April 1984, two men were fined for trespassing into the live firing area.^[14] On 14 February 1991, two men were fined $1,000 for fishing in a live firing area off Pasir Laba Road.^{[citation needed]} On 17 August 1991, two RSAF pilots were killed at Poyan Reservoir.^{[citation needed]}

It is part of SAFTI Live Firing Area (South), which has restricted access.^[9] There are two restricted access gates at the end of Old Choa Chu Kang Road for connection to either end of Poyan Reservoir, as the road is quite narrow (is only accessible to pedestrians, bicycles and all military vehicles), together with the Lorong Danau (between Chua Chu Kang Camp and Jalan Sungei Poyan), the road is named as Jalan Sungei Poyan and Poyan Drive. Access to the reservoir was restricted since December 1999. At the end of Old Choa Chu Kang Road, there are several shared bicycles (Ofo and Obike) being parked from the bus stop to the narrow road.^[15] The future training outfield, SAFTI City (formerly Poyan Court) will also be located there. It will feature housing blocks, condominiums, shopping centres, entertainment arcade and transportation hub (bus station and MRT station). In April 2019, some of the roads at Poyan Reservoir were also named - Poyan Drive, Poyan Avenue, SAFTI City Avenue and Danau Grove.^[16]

At the reservoir, only the Mobility 3rd Generation raft is deployed to load and unload military vehicles when crossing from the western side to the eastern side.

Murai Reservoir[]

Murai Reservoir
Murai Reservoir
Location	Western Water Catchment
Coordinates	1°24′00″N 103°40′25″E / 1.40000°N 103.67361°E / 1.40000; 103.67361
Type	reservoir
Basin countries	Singapore

Murai Reservoir (Malay: Tadahan Air Murai; Chinese: 慕莱蓄水池; pinyin: Mù lái xù shuǐ chí) was formerly , which was dammed in early 1980s, to create a reservoir. It is located in Murai, Murai North and Thousand Oaks districts. Construction work had begun in November 1977.^[8]

It is part of SAFTI Live Firing Area (North), of which is restricted to only from the TRMC Operations Room.^[9] The Murai Urban Training Facility is east of Murai Reservoir, which can be accessed through Jalan Murai from Lim Chu Kang Road, together with the Murai Urban Live Firing Facility (MULFF).^[16]

There is also a road east of Murai Urban Training Facility which goes from Lim Chu Kang Road to Jalan Murai, called Murai Farmway. Only Murai Farmway and part of Jalan Murai is opened to the public. Access to the area and the reservoir has been restricted since October 1999. Murai North has four dirt roads named (with Lim Chu Kang Tracks 11 & 13).

Sarimbun Reservoir[]

Sarimbun Reservoir
Sarimbun Reservoir
Location	Western Water Catchment
Coordinates	1°25′35″N 103°41′00″E / 1.42639°N 103.68333°E / 1.42639; 103.68333
Type	reservoir
Basin countries	Singapore

Sarimbun Reservoir (Malay: Tadahan Air Sarimbun; Chinese: 莎琳汶蓄水池) was constructed by damming and widening of Sungei Karang, Sungei Hantu, and Sungei Sarimbun.^[17] It is located in Sarimbun, Sungei Gedong, Bahtera and Kapal districts. Construction work began in November 1977.^[8]

It is part of SAFTI Live Firing Area in the north, which has restricted access since 19 January 1992 and only accessible through the TRMC Operations Room. The gate is accessible through the road named Jalan Bahtera.^[9] The public can cut through from Bahtera Track to enter Sarimbun Reservoir area.

Sarimbun was where General Tomoyuki Yamashita landed his troops during World War II, and was engaged in the Battle of Sarimbun Beach. Sarimbun is also home to many small vegetable and fruit farms and health farms. These farms are normally owned by local entrepreneurs. Sarimbun also hosts multiple permanent campsites, especially on Jalan Bahtera. These campsites include the Singapore Scout Association's Sarimbun Campsite, Girl Guides Singapore's Camp Christine, and Ministry of Education's Jalan Bahtera Adventure Centre.

Etymology[]

Sarimbun is a Malay place name, and existed probably since the early nineteenth century. The Franklin and Jackson's Plan of Singapore (1830) refers to , or Sarimbun River in Malay, as "Serimhone".

Rimbun means "luxuriant", "in great quantity" or "thick".

Other place names with Sarimbun include Pulau Sarimbun, a small island in the Straits of Johor off the coast at Sarimbun. Pulau Sarimbun is within the SAFTI Live Firing Area as shown in the map.

Islands[]

There are three islands in the Western Water Catchment - Pulau Bajau, Pulau Pergam and Pulau Sarimbun. Pulau Bajau is a within Poyan Reservoir. It is part of the SAFTI live firing area.

Etymology[]

Pulau Bajau means Bajau island, in which Bajau is an indigenous ethnic group residing in the state of Sabah in east Malaysia, Indonesia and southern Philippines.

Transport[]

This area has very few bus connections in the vicinity - 172, 179, 199, 405 and 975. These bus services are only serving NTU, Lim Chu Kang Road, Jalan Bahar, Old Choa Chu Kang Road and part of Old Lim Chu Kang Road, these are all public roads.

For MRT, there will be three MRT stations at the vicinity of Western Water Catchment - Nanyang Gateway, Nanyang Crescent and Peng Kang Hill, completing in 2029. Other than that, there are no plans for any MRT line within the area including the live firing area.

References[]