Nature lovers were understandably horrified when they discovered large swathes of the Kranji Woodlands forest cleared.
Cleared by mistake
The land was originally earmarked for the construction of the up-and-coming Agri-Food Innovation Park, before the vegetation got “erroneously” cleared by a contractor of JTC.
JTC Corporation has since released a statement, explaining that they have also since issued a stern warning to their contractor and investigations are ongoing.
In their statement, JTC said that they discovered that their contracted had started clearing certain portions of the forest on 13 January.
JTC also said that they were planning on conducting environmental assessments before carrying out clearing works.
The studies started in December 2020 and were projected to be completed by April 2021.
They also planned on consulting stakeholders of the forest, including nature groups before commencing any works.
After JTC discovered the unauthorised clearing of the forest, their contractor was immediately instructed to halt all works and a “stern warning” was issued.
NParks also said that they are currently investigating the incident as well and that they are taking a serious view of the unauthorised clearing.
Images source: Brice Li Facebook