Dear Supporters,

I received a call from one of the NPark representatives and details of the exchange are provided below/attached for your reference. Thank you all for your continued patience and I shall keep you posted on any developments when I hear them. 

Cheers!

Kris

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Dear Ms. Neo Hui Ying, 

I am sending this email to thank you and the NParks team for your call on January 25th and to share the updates on the conversation, to bring everyone on the same page. 

I thank you for understanding the nature of the request from 515 resident supporters, referred to as "petitioners" henceforth. I am given to understand that:

1. while there hasn't been a clear conclusion as to whether the Surin Park areas evaluated will be selected for the fencing/dog run setup, there might be some positive outlook and chances it might go through (NParks is unable to commit at this point as the evaluation is still ongoing).
2. these assessments have apparently taken place already, and are still under evaluation and expected to be completed by the end of February 2023 and results will be shared with us by NParks around the same period.
3. while I have once again requested/proposed a meeting and discussion with NParks, the feedback provided is that such a meeting shall only take place after the NParks team completes the evaluation, and petitioners or representatives won't be consulted for this purpose (while NParks may take suggestions into consideration at your discretion).
4. in reference to the above point 3, NParks might be considering a different location within Surin Park other than the one proposed for various reasons (while some verbal reference was stated as follows, NParks won't be able to provide the full details of such assessments made).
   • some NParks representatives have made observations on some occasional users of the suggested area (we respect your team's expertise and would be obliged for NParks to make time for a discussion with us if feasible).
   • it might be easier to pull water point(s) to an alternative location such as the one adjacent to the public toilet (we thank the team for this kind consideration, though this is not a part of our original request for just fencing, especially because it changes the proposed/desired location and perhaps adds more complexities).
   • other details to take into consideration would be the trees to be uprooted or replanted (a reference was hence made to the original location suggested as that would not require uprooting or replanting of trees for NParks consideration once again; trees are very much part of the ecosystem and proposal, and we care for them too).
5. should the approval come through in February, the request for the budget is expected to be placed by March (Q1) to secure funding by April (Q2).
6. following point 5, the work shall commence by May (Q2) and is expected to complete by June/July (Q2-Q3).
7. the reference to the timelines provided is just estimated figures and cannot be confirmed/committed at this point by NParks. 

We the petitioners, thank you all for your kind efforts and are awaiting NParks' favorable response on this request/petition and would be very much obliged for your patience and understanding likewise. 

On behalf of the petitioners, I am at your service if any help or support is needed (whatever I can offer) with assessments and planning aspects to expedite the execution. 

cc'd Honourable MPs of Workers' Party 

Thanks
Kris GS

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