Rochor
Centre residents will still be guaranteed their Kallang units
(shown above) if their application for others turn out successful.
(Photo: Land Transport Authority)
Residents of Rochor
Centre, which will be torn
down to make way for a new expressway, don’t just have to
settle for a replacement unit
in Kallang as compensation.
They are free to apply for flats in all of
the Housing
& Development Board’s (HDB’s) new launches until the
end of 2012, according to areport
in The Straits
Times (ST).
In case they are unsuccessful, they can still get the Kallang
unit reserved for them.
To build the southern segment of
the North-South
Expressway(NSE), the government said it would acquire 567
HDB flats in four blocks as well as 187 rental shops and eating
houses at Rochor Centre.
More than 200 residents have since aired their grievances at
the launch of an exhibition of the new flats being offered to them
inKallang, due to be completed by
2016.
According to PropertyGuru,
some of the complaints concerned the lack of any dialogue prior to
serving the acquisition notice, and that that the
new Kallang site
is not an ideal location, as it is noisy and there are no elevators
for elderly residents.
ST cited several clarifications
made by the HDB.
One,compensation will
be based on market valuations as of when the acquisition was
announced. Two, past resale transactions as well as flat type,
orientation, storey height and extent of renovation will also be
considered.
Three, compensation figures
- from S$423,400 to S$645,000 for three- and four-room units - are
only estimates.
Addressing residents’ concerns that their flats could have a
higher value in five years' time, Moulmein-Kallang
MP Denise
Phua had earlier pledged to seek
higher compensation for
those affected.
Flat owners will be informed of
their compensation in
the third quarter of next year,
reported ST. Those who
dispute the value can then appeal to
the Appeals
Board (Land Acquisition).
If can dispute the value and change it, then it means the
valuers not doing their job properly.
So how? 
