Originally posted by ndsef:
Yes MRT should have the soil reports of the MRT Lines... NOT THE
SURRONDING BUILDINGS.
Unfortunately, soil reports will have to be taken AROUND the
sites of the MRT line - this includes all buildings that can be
affected by the MRT Line.
With HOCK KEE HOUSE only SEVEN METERS from the tunnel of the MRT
line, surely the soil reports would have included the area near to
this building.
:
Why build unneccessary protections here and there to hold up one
building?
Yes they have a project team, well so did the Samsung in the case
of the leaning building at Church Street.
No one is blaming the Nicoll Highway stoppage as a delay. The delay
now is due to the discovery of Hock Kee House's foundation, which
is beyond the control of both LTA and Nishimatsu. The Hock Kee
House residents are definitely not blamed.
It was reported that HOCK KEE HOUSE is constructed on top of
marine clay, and on foundation slabs instead of deep piles.
Such a construction method is common in the building designs from
the early 1940s through the 1960s, and especially suited for
construction on marine clay.
Many older buildings along the North-East Line, North-South, and
East-West MRT Lines are also built on the same design and also on
soft marine clay - especially those in the heart of the Financial
District.
Yet, with the NE, NS, and EW MRT lines intersecting each other at
City Hall and Raffles Place - (and with the lines running through
older buildings along Robinson Road-Cecil Street, North Bridge
Road-South Bridge Road, Serangoon-Upper Serangoon Road, Victoria
Street-Sims Avenue-Eunos) - those old buildings along these roads
seems to be unaffected.
Why is HOCK KEE HOUSE causing such acute concern, when similar
buildings built on similar structural designs - and also on marine
soil - have not caused a need for the entire building to be
demolished ?
:
I feel that the question is not the time of one month to move. The
problem is with the compensation. Yet no one has brought it up in
this thread. IF the residents are compensated say, $500,000 each
instead of $100,000 on top of the state valuation then I guess no
one will complain. The Clinic for example has already a drop in
number of patients visiting, and by the way, I seriously don't
think it will take a month to renovate a new clinic.
Is the concern of the residents merely about the sum to be
compensated ?
Was it only about the EXTRA COMPENSATION over and above that to be
paid for the property ?
It was already made known that compensation will be based on MARKET
VALUE, with the value to be assessed by a licensed property valuer,
and yet the various strata owners remain worried - and reported by
Channel NewsAsia as follows:
Most
do understand the need to move out because of safety concerns but
they also feel they have few options when relocating.
A day after the shock announcement by the LTA, Hock Kee House
tenants and residents are finding themselves in a very complicated
situation.
The LTA had acquired the property and is set to demolish it before
the Circle Line construction near the Paya Lebar MRT station
resumes.
Hock Kee House will be unsafe once the deep excavation works
begin.
But the residents say it is not just a simple matter of packing up
and leaving.
They have engaged property consultants and even lawyers to help
them out.
The tenants and residents have two major concerns: one is the value
of their property right now; the second is that they feel a month
is simply not enough time for them to move out.
Said property consultant Angela Lee, "Normally, for a seller in
order to complete a case, it takes about five months from the start
of the property they want to buy. So based on one month it is a bit
short for them to move out from their present situation."
Said Ng Hock Chau, who owns property in Hock Kee House, "Because my
purchase price is high -- half a million I still owe the bank
S$300,000. If the price they give is lower than that I make a big
loss."
Another property owner, Kelvin Tan, said, "At this point, we're not
willing to sell our property. This is our investment; we will wait
until a better opportunity for market price and we sell. If the
government wants us to take back (the property) now according to
market price then our investment is going to incur a heavy
loss."
Many have yet to sign the agreement to give up their property and
are reluctant to do so.
Seriously, this entire exercise by LTA in acquiring the entire
building seems very odd, especially when similar properties of the
same age, structural design, and soil conditions have existed in
the other lines.
Could it be the property was targetted for its strategic location,
and when it has a lease for 999 years - (nearly as good as a
Freehold Property) ?
Interestingly enough, HOCK KEE HOUSE sits at a strategic
site:
- bounded by Paya Lebar Road, Sims Avenue and Geylang Road;
- diagonally across City Plaza;
- and in the good company of Tanjong Katong Complex and the space
age design of the Singapore Post Office;
- it is also near the Paya Lebar MRT station.
After the original Hock Kee House is demolished, will any new
commercial cum residential building not fetch a much higher price
?
Given the understanding of the present, and the potential value of
the future, what should be the compensation value payable to the
present strata titled property owners ?
nsdf, surely the Ruling Party a.k.a the present Singapore
Government and the LTA do not need you to be their spokesman -
(again) - this time ?
Channel NewsAsia: Hock Kee House residents worried LTA
compensations not enough : 12 August 2005
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/162849/1/.html
Channel NewsAsia: Hock Kee House near Circle Line
construction to be demolished: 11 August 2005
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/162710/1/.html
