During the Good Friday long weekend, Singaporeans who before Covid-19 would take short trips to Malaysia or Batam are now swarming our nature trails instead.
The crowds are a downer due to safe distancing concerns and also because the enjoyment of such natural spaces will be marred. And that’s not to mention the trash left behind.
Thus, Member of Parliament (MP) Sim Ann visited the Rail Corridor herself to address residents’ concerns and reveal what measures the National Parks Board (NParks) would be taking.
One of them would be to deploy drones to monitor crowd levels, she said.
Ms Sim, who is the MP for Bukit Timah ward of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, took a Facebook Live video at the Rail Corridor on Saturday (3 Apr) morning.
In it, she acknowledged that residents had reported on the crowds.
Mr Ben Cheung, the chairman of Mayfair Park Neighbourhood Committee, said that feedback received pointed to an “overwhelming number of visitors” along a stretch of the Rail Corridor.
He also hoped that there would be some control over the crowds.
2 NParks officers were also on hand to share some details of what the agency was doing to step up on safe distancing.
Mr Lim Liang Jim, a director at NParks, said patrols had been stepped up at all of Singapore’s green spaces over the long weekend.
In fact, over 500 officers have been deployed for these patrols, he added.
During these patrols, visitors will be advised to follow safe management measures, for example:
He also urged people to check crowd levels using NParks’ safe distancing portal before heading down to parks.
If the park you intend to visit is too crowded, you might want to visit during off-peak hours like weekdays to “maximise your enjoyment” and have a “more stress-free experience”.
Mr Lim said the crowd density reports on the safe distancing portal are updated by officers on the ground, as well as technology like drones.
Ms Sim said these drones help NParks monitor the crowding situation in real time.
A netizen then asked her what action would be taken when it finds crowds
She replied that drone info will be used to guide officers’ decisions on control and update the safe distancing portal.
One of the concrete actions that can be taken, Mr Lim said, is to close off sections of green spaces.
That will be considered if that particular section is too dense for the safety of the public, he added.
And this can happen at any section, including the Rail Corridor.
NParks also noted that signs have been posted along the Rail Corridor to remind visitors to follow the rules.
Thanks to our recent hiking boom, our nature trails are being appreciated by more and more Singaporeans, and that’s a good thing.
However, it’s not worth it if allows Covid-19 to spread within our community.
NParks has already produced a very useful online guide, so our own safety, we should avoid parks that’re too crowded and follow safe distancing rules in places we do visit.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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