Here, challenge this....
================================
Chiam, Sitoh in spat over facilities
Residents upset both are unwilling to repair damaged footpath
lights
By Aaron Low
Aug 03, 2006
The Straits Times
NEARLY three months after the General Election, some residents in
Potong Pasir are feeling the effects of their votes as the People's
Action Party (PAP) man scales back aid to the constituency.
The latest facility to suffer are the lights that guide residents
along a concrete footpath as they walk home at night from the
Potong Pasir MRT station.
Six of the eight solar-powered lights have been vandalised and Mr
Sitoh Yih Pin, the PAP candidate who lost in the ward in the May
election, has no plans to repair or replace them. The lights had
cost $20,000 to install.
Earlier, he had also stopped other amenities, including the extra
Meet-the-People sessions and the $2 abalone porridge.
Last night, Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong, who won with 55.8 per
cent of the votes, made it plain that he too will not fix the
lights.
Their responses have annoyed several residents, including Mr Andrew
Leow, who accused them of playing a cat-and-mouse game.
Said the 37-year-old accounts manager: 'The lights have been broken
for a few weeks and at night, people are walking in the dark. Why
can't anyone fix them?''
Another resident, Ms Lee Li-Cheng, 35, had written to The Straits
Times Forum page to complain about the danger the situation posed
to children and the elderly.
'I understand that Potong Pasir residents had made a choice and now
have to live without upgrading frills, but these lights are a basic
amenity, offering security for residents returning home late,' the
human resource manager said.
Mr Chiam told The Straits Times last night that fixing the lights
with town council funds would be illegal as the area in question is
not under the council's control.
Mr Sitoh had leased the land from the Singapore Land Authority
early last year to set up the lights. The adviser to Potong Pasir
grassroots organisations said he would not be fixing the lights as
the lease for the land would run out on Oct 31.
He told The Straits Times yesterday that grassroots organisations
were formed to organise events for the community and they do not
provide amenities.
But he and his grassroots leaders made an exception last year and
raised funds for the lights.
Recently, some were vandalised, with one losing its solar panels.
It would cost about $5,000 to repair the lights, said Mr
Sitoh.
'But if I am running the town council, I would apply to take over
this piece of land and build a brightly lit covered walkway
immediately. I will not wait,' he added.
Mr Chiam, when asked whether he would raise money to repair the
lights, retorted: 'This is his baby. He did it to show voters that
he is such a caring person.'
'But now what has happened? It just shows he was doing it for the
election, no more, no less.'
Mr Chiam added that he had put up spotlights at Block 147 facing
the poorly lit pathway, to alleviate the situation.
But residents like technician Tan Yi Da, 23, are not impressed,
saying that the lights do not help much at night as they are placed
too far away to be of any use.
When asked if he was not doing all the extras he used to do before
the election because he had lost, Mr Sitoh replied that he 'tried
very hard to convince the residents' that he wanted to run the town
council and make it a 'better place'.
'But the residents made their decisions and I have to respect
them.'
Like some residents, Mr Leow is disappointed at how things have
panned out.
He said: 'Now that the election dust has settled, both have refused
to acknowledge that more needs to be done for the residents of
Potong Pasir estate. Instead, we get them playing a cat-and-mouse
game.''
Mr Chiam, who told residents during the campaign that voting for
him meant voting for the services of two MPs, laughed off such
concerns.
'When the time comes, it will be two-for-one again. Things are just
quiet now,' he said.
