Kranji woodland illegal clearing: CPG Consultants V-P fined $26k

SINGAPORE – A vice-president of the consultancy which caused a part of Kranji woodland to be cleared without approval was fined $26,000 on Thursday.

Jimmy Liu, 63, was part of a quartet of officers from JTC and CPG Consultants working on the development of the Kranji Agri-Food Innovation Park (AFIP), which was meant to be a hub for high-tech farming and research and development activities.

The four officers were found to have acted in gross violation of wildlife-related requirements which needed to be met before approval was obtained from the National Parks Board (NParks).

This resulted in the felling of 362 trees without approval.

Liu pleaded guilty on Thursday to three charges under the Parks and Trees Act and one charge under the Wildlife Act

The other co-accused persons are Neo Jek Lin, 44, who was a JTC senior project manager, Chong Pui Chih, 47, a former deputy director with the statutory board, and Tan See Chee,64, director of CPG.

On Thursday, Deputy Public Prosecutors Nicholas Khoo and Jordon Li said that Liu and the co-accused had discussed the impact of the wildlife-related requirements on how long it would take to complete work on the Kranji AFIP.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, works at Kranji AFIP were halted between April and August 2020.

As part of requirements, JTC was to ensure that proper fencing or hoarding was in place to prevent animals from wandering into the worksite. They also had to allow NParks to conduct plant salvaging before the commencement of any physical works.

Concerned about further delays to the Kranji AFIP, Neo and Chong suggested that, instead of complying with the wildlife-related requirements before commencing tree felling and site clearance works, they could proceed while efforts were made concurrently to satisfy these requirements. 

Liu and his colleague Tan agreed to the plan. 

Meanwhile, on September 2, 2020, NParks requested an update on the clearance works that were planned for the coming months in Kranji AFIP.

This led to an e-mail exchange between Liu, Neo, and Chua Ngee Hwee, a Huationg Contractor employee. Liu asked the latter to fill up a table indicating the expected completion dates of clearance works on-site. Huationg Contractor was engaged by JTC to clear the land.