Karamjit KaurSenior Aviation Correspondent

The construction of a future Jewelat Changi has reached the halfwaymark, putting the airport on trackto build an icon that aims to makeSingapore a more attractive air huband destination.

When completed, Jewel ChangiAirport will glitter with more than9,600 pieces of glass, speciallymade in the United States, that willframe its facade.

At the site, in front of Terminal 1,work was in full swing when TheStraits Times visited last week – thefirst exclusive preview since con-struction started in 2014.

The facade and works inside willbe completed by the fourth quar-ter of next year, in time for an early2019 opening, said project head As-

hith Alva. The five-storey, mainlycommercial development withfive basement floors will houseabout 300 shops and food and bev-erage outlets.

Highlights include a 40m indoorwaterfall and a five-storey gardenwith about 2,500 trees and100,000 shrubs from countries in-cluding Brazil, Australia, Thailandand the US.

Directly connected to T1, Jewelwill be linked to the other two termi-nals via air-conditioned bridgeswith travelators.

At $1.7 billion, the project is a con-siderable investment for Changi Air-port Group, which owns 51 per centof Jewel Changi Airport Develop-ment, with the remaining stakeheld by CapitaLand Mall Asia.

The airport, however, sees it as anecessary cost to stay ahead in therace for premier air hub status.

Ms Hung Jean, chief executive ofJewel Changi Airport Develop-ment, said: “A key vision for Jewelis to be a world-class lifestyle desti-nation that will be a game changerfor Changi Airport amid intensify-ing competition on the global air-port landscape.”

This will “significantly augmentChangi Airport’s status as a leadinginternational air hub, drawing inter-national travellers to Changi Air-port and Singapore”, she said.

While the jury is still out on whe-ther Jewel will make Singapore amore attractive destination for visi-tors, or lure travellers who wouldotherwise have connected at otherairports, experts agree it will pleasethose who do come.

Singapore ManagementUniversity’s Assistant ProfessorTerence Fan, who specialises intransport issues, said Jewel shouldappeal to a growing number of tran-sit travellers, who account for abouta third of Changi’s total traffic.

He said: “Passengers with twohours or less between flights would

normally stay within the sterilezone close to boarding gates whilethose with longer layovers, likemore than 10 hours, are more likelyto unwind and rest in a hotel.

“For those in between, the hassleof going into town may not be worthit, but they can also do some seriousshopping and walking around.

“Jewel would be great to cater tothis group of travellers, especiallythe elderly and those with youngchildren who may not be so in-clined to take a cab and walk aboutoutside of a temperature-control-led environment.”

It is important for an airport to setitself apart from its rivals and this iswhat Jewel aims to do, said Mr Ram-anathan Mohandas, head of the di-ploma programme in aviation man-agement at Republic Polytechnic.

“This investment in infrastruc-ture and facilities is to offer a distinc-tive experience to the travellingpublic, which will help Changi stayahead of the competition,” he said.

karam@sph.com.sg

Lee Xin En

The carbon tax that will be imple-mented from 2019 is likely to hitlarge businesses harder than house-holds and small firms.

A tax of $10 to $20 per tonne ofcarbon dioxide-equivalent green-house gas emissions could increasebusiness operating costs equivalentto a 6.4 per cent to 12.7 per cent in-crease in current oil prices, accord-ing to a government paper releasedyesterday as part of the public con-sultation process on the levy.

The tax will be applied upstreamon power stations and other large di-rect emitters. According to currentdata based on the proposed thresh-old of emissions, only about 30 to40 companies will have to pay.

These are likely to include power-generating companies, as well aswaste incinerators, recycling firms

and the semi-conductor industry,said Professor Euston Quah, headof economics at Nanyang Techno-logical University.

While some of these companiesmay pass on the increased costs toconsumers, households will feelless of an impact compared withthe large emitters, with the tax esti-mated to increase electricity pricesby 2.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent, ac-cording to the paper.

Mr Gautam Jindal, a research asso-ciate at the Energy Studies Insti-tute, said the proposal seems to betargeted mainly at companies, tomake them “start considering thebusiness case for energy efficien-cy”. “You need to give companies abusiness case for energy efficiency.It internalises this cost for compa-nies, and they are able to plan ac-cordingly,” he added.

In contrast, Mr Jindal said, the in-crease in electricity prices for con-

sumers will be “marginal”, so con-sumer behavioural change is likelyalso to be “marginal”.

The verdict was split on the im-pact of the tax on businesses.

Mr Sunny Koh, deputy presidentof the Singapore Manufacturing Fed-eration, said the expected increasein electricity prices because of thetax is “not so significant”.

“For a food-manufacturing SME(small and medium-sized enter-prise), utility bills are a few thou-sand dollars. A 2 per cent to 4 percent increase would be a few hun-dred, which can be easily savedthrough more efficiency and produc-tivity,” he said. “SMEs will try to im-prove energy efficiency, but it is notso significant as to make them thinktwice about energy efficiency.”

However, the refining sector is ex-pected to take a bigger hit.

Mr Sushant Gupta, research direc-tor of Asia refining at energy consul-

tancy Wood Mackenzie, said theprofit margins of the refining sec-tor here could be impacted by be-tween 10 per cent and 15 per cent.

“The additional burden from thecarbon tax will reduce refineries’competitiveness in the region aspassing on these costs to productswill be tough, as those prices are setby the international market,” hesaid. “Other export refineries in theregion such as in China, India,South Korea and new Middle East-ern export refineries are more com-petitive than Singapore.”

Prof Quah said more than 40 juris-dictions have already implementedtheir carbon taxes, and the likeli-hood of others joining will increase.“It is perhaps better to implementour carbon tax earlier so that we canrefine our implementation whenneeded and gain experience in levy-ing such a tax. It also encouragesour residents to understand thatour market economic behaviour af-fects the environment,” he said.

The last day for submissions forthe public consultation is April 20.

xinen@sph.com.sg

Jewel Changi Airport, directly connected to Terminal 1, will be linked to the other two terminals via air-conditioned bridges with travelators. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

An oil refinery on Pulau Bukom. The added burden from the carbon tax will reducerefineries’ competitiveness in the region, said one expert. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

GREAT FOR SHOPPING AND WALKING AROUND

Passengers with two hours or less between flightswould normally stay within the sterile zone close toboarding gates while those with longer layovers,like more than 10 hours, are more likely to unwindand rest in a hotel.

For those in between, the hassle of going into townmay not be worth it, but they can also do some seriousshopping and walking around.

Jewel would be great to cater to this group oftravellers, especially the elderly and those withyoung children who may not be so inclined to takea cab and walk about outside of atemperature-controlled environment.

’’SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY’SASSISTANT PROFESSORTERENCE FAN

Special glass facade, indoor waterfall among highlightsof $1.7 billion icon to boost airport’s leading air hub status

Changi’s Jewel shaping upwell for sparkling start in 2019

Carbon tax ‘likely to have greater impact on large businesses’

A6 TOPOFTHENEWS | THE STRAITS TIMES | TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2017 |