Onus on heavy
vehicle owners to find appropriate parking: MND
SINGAPORE: The Ministry of National Development is looking into
ways to help heavy vehicle owners and workers find more convenient
parking lots, Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee said in
Parliament on Friday (Jan 29).
However, he added that it is the responsibility of business
owners to find parking solutions for the vehicles they own, and to
work out with their drivers the appropriate transport options to
commute to work.
Mr Lee was responding to a question by Assoc Prof Fatimah
Lateef, who asked whether the number of heavy vehicle parking lots
matched up with demand, and if there were plans to review the
location and availability of the lots. She also brought up cases
where drivers ended up sleeping in their vehicles because they
could not find a lot.
Mr Lee said that there are 34,400 heavy vehicles plying the
roads in Singapore, and 44,170 heavy vehicle parking lots
island-wide - of which 76 per cent are provided by the private
sector.
Mr Lee also noted that the Land Transport Authority requires
every heavy vehicle to have a Vehicle Parking Certificate (VPC)
before it can be registered, before the road tax is renewed, and
before the ownership of the vehicle is transferred. This means that
every heavy vehicle that operates in Singapore already has a
designated parking lot.
Nonetheless, the MND is also looking into ways to help
businesses and drivers who still face issues, even though each
heavy vehicle has its own lots, said Mr Lee.
To help business owners park their vehicles near their
businesses, the ministry plans to increase more heavy vehicle
parking in industrial estates where there is a lot of demand, said
Mr Lee.
"URA and JTC will continue to mandate the building of heavily
vehicle park in private industrial developments," said the Senior
Minister of State, noting that since 2014, successful tenderers for
Government land sale sites for industrial development have been
required to build, and co-locate a multi-storey heavy vehicle park
in their industrial development.
For new industrial estates and older industrial estates being
redeveloped, both the Housing and Development Board and JTC will
build more heavy vehicle parking.
"This will be be particularly useful for HDB industrial estates
being redeveloped because they are not that far from some of our
HDB estates," said Mr Lee.
REDUCING "PHANTOM LOTS"
Mr Lee also noted that there are situations where businesses
have a VPC, but the lot that is registered for their vehicle has
been misused.
He called for drivers to report these "phantom lots", and that
while "it is a VPC on paper … but for all purposes the owner does
not have a lot, and the driver bears the brunt of it".
As for situations where drivers wish to park near their own
homes, Mr Lee said the ministry is looking into how best to
get companies and businesses to meet the transport commuting needs
of drivers. For example, the Urban Redevelopment Authority is
looking into placing bicycle racks for drivers who wish to cycle
home.
But he added that there are "practical difficulties" in
providing lots near housing estates, due to noise and safety
concerns, as well as how built up estates are.
He also said that businesses need to look for vehicle parks that
are convenient.
"If companies know that the driver lives in Jurong, they should
try to look for a heavy vehicle park that is not too far away,"
said Mr Lee. "I think businesses can play a part and they can have
a conversation with their drivers and get a better sense of where
their needs are."
- CNA/av