TENGAH and Simpang might be the next townships to be developed, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

‘Flat buyers need not fear that there are not enough flats,’ Mr Mah said. ‘When Punggol is fully built up, we will consider building in new areas such as Tengah and Simpang.’

The two areas – Simpang in the north-east, and Tengah in the west – were fielded as potential development sites as early as the 1990s.

Simpang town first made its appearance on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s 1991 Concept Plan, where it was mentioned as one of the next possible housing estates in the same breath as Punggol, Sembawang, and Sengkang.

Simpang town is located on the coast, bounded by the Strait of Johor to the north, Sembawang town to the west, Yishun town to the south and the mouth of the former Sungei Seletar to the east.

In the URA’s Simpang development guide plan, the area was meant to be a waterfront town, featuring waterfront homes and sea sports facilities.

There were even plans for a light rail system through the area.

These grand plans were evidently shelved, however, as the area remains a mixture of forest and swamp. The Simpang training grounds were at one point in use by the Singapore Armed Forces artillery as a training ground.

There have been fewer designs on the area at Tengah – bounded by Brickland Road, the KJE, PIE and Bukit Batok Road.

Today, the forested piece of land remains an excellent source of wild durians.

However, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Development stressed that there are no concrete plans to develop the areas yet. He stressed that Mr Mah highlighted the two areas only to demonstrate the adequacy of housing space.

‘(The) towns will only be developed at the appropriate time when there is sufficient demand,’ said a spokesman for HDB. ‘There was no prior commitment to develop both towns.

Source: Straits Times, 6 Mar 2010