Sungei Kadut to be developed into agri-tech park, high-rise industrial facilities

A 30-year plan to redevelop Sungei Kadut is set to revitalise one of Singapore’s oldest industrial estates. The multimillion-dollar project will transform the old industrial estate into an eco-district that reflects the ideal of live, work and play.

The plan was announced on Thursday (6 Feb) morning by the Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing. Mr Chan remarked that the Sungei Kadut Eco-District will become fertile ground for growth industries like environmental and agriculture technologies.

The new 18-hectare Agri-Food Innovation Park will house high-tech production segments like alternative protein manufacturers, indoor farming and aquaculture hatcheries as well as firms and R&D centres.

Mr Chan added that “this will bring in higher value, knowledge-based jobs for Singaporeans such as systems engineers, plant scientists and aquaculture nutritionists.”

To ensure that new opportunities are utilised by the developments in Sungei Kadut, 200 hectares of land allocation have been reserved for new uses and industries, he further said.

According to Mr Chan, there are also plans to make Sungei Kadut also usable for the community after office hours. In the evenings and weekends, the public and residents can relax at the area which will have farm-to-fork eateries and farmers’ markets.

In order to optimise resources and reduce business costs, existing industries such as waste management, timbre, construction and furniture will be moved into the Singaporean state-owned real estate company, JTC Corporation’s specialised buildings for the time being, JTC announced.

Although it will take as long as 30 years to complete the revamp, the first phase has already commenced in 2019 with the relocation of related industries and furniture into JTC’s S$121 million Trendspace.

Later in 2020, relocation will be done for machinery, metal and timbre industries into TimMac, which is a S$286 million facility. In addition to this, in 2021, recycling and waste management companies will move into the Kranji Green facility whose construction cost is S$242 million.

Some firms feel that relocating into a new facility after being in the industrial estate for 30 to 40 years brings with it a good chance for them to digitally transform their operations.

The wood processing company, LHT Holdings is a company who feels as such. The company has started automating some of its processes as well as retrofitting old machines with sensors in an effort to transform the timbre business that will undergo changes due to Industry 4.0 revolution.