Development
As part of the Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) plan to develop the other Southern Islands after Sentosa, land reclamation was started in 2000 to link Pulau Seringat and Lazarus Island. The reclamation created a sand bank between the two islands, forming a lagoon that has an unobstructed seaview.
Pulau Seringat, which is now part of the extended Lazarus Island, now has a 800-metre stretch of beach. Thousands of cubic metres of sand, checked for sandfly eggs, was imported from Indonesia to make the beach. 1,000 mature coconut trees were also planted to add to the island feel of the place.
A causeway connecting Lazarus Island and Saint John's Island was also built to make the three islands more accessible and help attract more visitors.
Previously a shoal that was barely visible at high tide, Kias is now an island that houses an electricity generator with enough capacity to support the other three islands.
The reclamation took six years to complete and cost S$60 million. Another S$120 million was spent to bring water, electricity, gas and telecommunication infrastructure from Sentosa to the islands. The submarine services link consists of a 1.2-kilometre trench holding utility lines that lie 17 metres underwater. It links Sentosa Cove to Kias Island, and is protected underneath 50,000 tonnes of rock. It holds two 12-inch (30 cm) gas pipelines, two 12-inch (30 cm) water pipelines, four 22 kV power cables and four 96 core fibre optic cables for telecommunications.
The entire project cost nearly S$300 million and took about 15 years of planning.
Read more about this topic: Southern Islands
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