The vision of Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Clean rivers where Singaporeans can go fishing or do water sports.

THE BIG CLEAN-UP OF SINGAPORE RIVER AND KALLANG RIVER

Precious water!

At the opening of the Upper Peirce Reservoir on 27 February 1977, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said that keeping the waterways of Singapore clean need to be a priority. There he set the target of a decade for the Ministry of Environment to clean up both the Singapore River and the Kallang River.

The rivers' pollution had grown as for decades, the river residents had lived in unsewered premises and disposed their farm wastes into the river. These included families living on bum boats, hawkers, squatters, pig farms and duck farms. At least 26,000 families and 2,800 cottage industries had to be relocated during this massive clean-up.

When the clean-up was completed in 1987, he envisaged the Marina Barrage by damming the Marina Channel.