Source: Jason Low / Facebook

National water agency PUB will be filing charges against construction company Samwoh for unauthorised drainage works that resulted a prolonged flood in Pasir Ris last month.

It said that Samwoh will be charged under the Sewerage and Drainage Act, and those found guilty can be fined up to S$50,000 for works affecting the storm-water drainage system, and up to S$20,000 for unauthorised alteration of the system.

PUB said on Saturday (11 September) that the junction of Tampines Avenue 10 and Pasir Ris Drive 12 is not a flood-prone area, but due to actions by Samwoh, it has resulted in a flood that made cars and motorists be stranded at the junction for almost two hours on 20 August.

It was reported that a 200m section of the traffic junction was flood, with water reaching up to knee-level in some places. 13 vehicles were partially submerged and a few motorists required assistance to evacuate their vehicles. At least one person was taken to the hospital.

PUB explained in its statement that the drainage system there was “more than adequate to cope with the rainfall intensity” on that day.

During heavy rainfall, water is diverted to Sungei Api Api, a canal about 1km from the flood junction, and sensors revealed that it was only about 50 percent full on 20 August.

“This prolonged flooding was entirely man-made. It would not have happened if the contractor had complied with PUB’s regulations for drainage work,” said Yeo Keng Soon, director of PUB’s catchment and waterway department, about the Pasir Ris incident.

PUB’s investigations

According to investigations conducted by PUB, it showed that Samwoh, which was doing the road widening works along Tampines Avenue 10, had built a diversion drain that was meant to reconnect to the original drain further downstream.

However, there were multiple issues with the construction plan.

The contractor first blocked off the existing roadside drain with large concrete slabs. The diversion drain was not connected properly to the existing drain and partially obstructed by scaffolding, PUB noted.

The construction firm had also not gotten PUB’s approval for drainage diversion.

The authorised drainage works obstructed the discharge of rainwater into the downstream Sungei Api Api, causing water to stay stagnate at the traffic junction as it is the lowest point in the area, said PUB.

Due to this, Samwoh was instructed by PUB to fix the situation and remove all obstructions to make sure storm water can flow in the drain.

During a media briefing on Friday (10 September), chief engineer for drainage operations at PUB’s catchment and waterways department, Lee Cai Jie, said that when a road is widened, affected section of the roadside drain would have to reconstructed.

He added that contractors must get approval from PUB before getting started with any drainage works. The submission must include a Drainage Details Plan, which in Samwoh’s case would set out the proposed scope of drainage works, like the proposed alignment and sizing of the new drain.

If this gets approval, PUB will issue a clearance certificate which says that, before carrying out works to alter the current drainage system, the contractor must also submit a method statement on how and when it plans to do it.

“Samwoh had submitted the Drainage Detailed Plan and obtained approval from PUB. But they failed to follow up with the method statement for PUB’s approval before proceeding with the drainage modification works at its worksite,” said Mr Lee.

PUB’s Mr Yeo said on Saturday that the agency maintains a network of roadside drains, canals and rivers that move storm water into reservoirs or out to sea.

“It is imperative that our drains are kept free flowing, especially as we experience more frequent and intense rainfall due to climate change. This incident should serve as a stark warning to all contractors that any construction works carried out must not adversely affect the storm water,” he added.

Netizens react

Following this news, online users were quick to express that contractors should not always be the person to be blamed. Penning their thoughts in the Facebook page of The Straits Times, they asked why the authorities didn’t monitor these contractors as it is their job to do so. Some even said that it is PUB who approved this contractor in the first place, as such questioning how are they saying now that the works carried out by Samwoh were unauthorised.

One user wrote: “Its easy to pinpoint, blame and sue the contractors but how about the authorities that award and supposed to monitor them.”

Others asked why didn’t PUB carry out random checks on the contractors to see if works are being done according to the plan. They pointed out that prevention is better than cure, and that inspection should be done in stages to prevent such thing from occurring.

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