Uphill slog for residents in blocks that cannot have
lift upgrading
SINGAPORE: When retiree Mr Kok Chun Tong moved into his
five-room flat at Choa Chu Kang with his wife more than 20 years
ago, he had chosen it for its peace and privacy.
It was a pleasant stay for the
79-year-old and his wife until the past few years, when health
issues cropped up. The trips Mrs Kok make to the wet market became
more difficult, because there are no lifts servicing his
flat.
“We are old, and the groceries
are not exactly very light,” said Mr Kok in Mandarin. “Sometimes
visitors get lost when they come visit.”
Mr Kok is one of the many
residents who live in about 200 Housing and Development Board (HDB)
blocks across the island where lift upgrading has been found to be
unfeasible, either because of cost issues, or technical
constraints.
In the Keat Hong ward in Choa
Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency alone, there are 32
blocks where lift upgrading has been deemed unfeasible, said its
Member of Parliament Zaqy Mohamad.
Mr Zaqy said the blocks were
designed in such a way that lift upgrading was not possible.
Although there are lifts on every floor, the corridors are
segmented. This meant that some areas only had two units facing
other other — offering greater privacy — but the residents of these
particular units had to go onto another floor to access the lifts
unlike their neighbours on the same floor.
The other issue making lift
upgrading unfeasible for some blocks is cost, he added. HDB
stipulates a cost cap for lift installations at no more than
S$30,000 per unit.
Given the lower number of
units that would benefit from the upgrading, the average cost would
bust that limit, said Mr Zaqy.
But Senior Minister of State
for National Development Lee Yi Shyan told Parliament on Monday
(Jul 13) that the HDB was piloting two new solutions — the
Pneumatic Vacuum Elevator (PVE) and the Vertical Platform Lift
(VPL) — for HDB blocks where lift upgrading has not been feasible.
Trials of the PVE started last month, while the VPL is currently
being evaluated, Mr Lee said.
Meanwhile, residents in Keat
Hong whom TODAY spoke to are still holding out hope for direct lift
access for their units, even as they have slowly come to terms with
the inconvenience.
When housewife Esther Lim’s
father comes to visit, she has to take extra care in helping him up
and down stairs because he needs a walking stick to move around.
“It’s a bit more difficult, because he is heavier,” said the mother
of an infant, who also faces difficulty in bringing the stroller up
and down the stairs.
While the lack of direct lift
access poses no issues for Madam Ong Siew Hway, 65, she and her
husband are concerned that when they get older and less mobile, it
might be more difficult for them to move around.
Despite the bugbears, some
residents said moving out to a more accessible block was not an
option for them, for various reasons.
Mr Zaqy said some residents,
especially the elderly, are “caught by policy”, whereby it is
harder and costlier for them to purchase resale flats, while they
may also not qualify to buy Build-to-Order flats.
-- TODAYonline
