One to be run privately, the other, by PUB

                 SINGAPORE will have two desalination plants come
                 2005, one operated by the private sector, and a
                 smaller one operated by the Public Utilities Board
                 (PUB), said Minister for Trade and Industry George
                 Yeo.

                 Announcing a change to the Government's plans, he
                 said the privately-operated plant, for which tenders
                 will be called early next year, will supply about 20
                 million gallons per day (mgd) of water by 2005. The
                 PUB plant will supply 10 mgd.

                 He agreed with Mr Leong Horn Kee (Bishan-Toa
                 Payoh GRC) and Mr Ahmad Magad (Pasir Ris
                 GRC) that the private sector should take part in the
                 supply of desalinated water.

                 So, instead of the PUB building and developing all the
                 desalination capacity on its own, it will commit itself to
                 buying a minimum amount of desalinated water for a
                 minimum period of time. The private sector will then
                 be invited to bid for the supply contracts.

                 The tenderers will be free to choose the best
                 desalination technology and optimum plant size to
                 meet the Government's requirements.

                 The PUB will then choose the best option or options
                 from the bids received. This will lower the cost for
                 consumers and open up a wider range of desalination
                 technologies.

                 Brigadier-General (NS) Yeo assured MPs that
                 Singapore has enough water for its needs.
                 Technological advancement is working in favour of
                 Singapore. Desalination is already affordable and is
                 likely to become cheaper.

                 PUB had originally wanted a 30 mgd plant that will
                 use the multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation technology,
                 but recent experiences in the US and Europe show
                 that technologies such as reverse osmosis and
                 multi-effect distillation are becoming cheaper. All
                 these methods involve converting seawater into
                 drinking water.

                 Using the reverse osmosis process, the price of
                 recently-contracted water has come down to
                 between 84 cents and $1.20 per cu m, compared to
                 about $2 per cu m, using the MSF method.

                 Since the MSF method may no longer provide the
                 most cost-effective solution, the Government has
                 decided to change its original decision and leave the
                 choice of technology for the new desalination plant
                 open, he added.

                 In a column last month, Straits Times journalist
                 Dominic Nathan had urged the PUB to just specify
                 the quality and quantity of water it wants and leave
                 the technology for Singapore's first desalination plant
                 to the project's tenderers.

                 Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan commended the
                 proposal as a sensible one and said he would urge the
                 PUB to take it up.

                       Adapted from The Straits Times, 12 Mar 2000.