Archives of Parliamentary Excerpts, Press Releases, and Speeches
4 October 2008
JBJ in Memorial
21 January 2008
Speech in Parliament by Chiam See Tong on HDB upgrading
22 October 2007
Amendment of the Panel Code
5 October 2007
Press release on Myanmar's Military Junta
22 May 2007
Parliamentary Debates
9 April 2007
Speech in Parliament by Chiam See Tong on Ministers' salary hikes
4 February 2007
Speech during MP's dialogue session by Lim Bak Chuan on GST increase
21 January 2008
I rise in support of the Bill which in principle is to enable the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to carry out upgrading works within or for flats in its housing estates, if 75 per cent of flat owners vote in favour of such upgrading works. I also would like to say that my party as an Opposition party supports the Government’s policy of upgrading of HDB flats. I make this statement to dispel any notion that the Minister may have that the Opposition does not support the Government’s upgrading programmes. That was the reason the Minister gave after the last election when the Government failed to upgrade Potong Pasir HDB flats after promising to do so.
I note that the list of items included for upgrading under Clause 2 of the Bill is all embracing. It includes items within a flat and also items within a building or any part thereof not comprised in a flat. It is encouraging to know that the HDB shall be upgrading so many items because after 25 years HDB flats need a lot of repairs and upgrading. The most troublesome faults occurring within an old HDB flat are spalling concrete, leaking ceilings and corroded sewer pipes. These faults in old HDB flats are very unpleasant and unsightly. As for the spalling concrete, they are menacing and dangerous. Those faults that I mentioned are best rectified by HDB upgrading.
Before those upgrading works are done, a poll has to be taken and a 75 per cent approval must be sought from flat owners first. It must be noted that the flat owners do not give their approval automatically and vote for upgrading of their flats. The HDB cannot take flat owners for granted. The HDB must look at the sensitivities and interest of flat owners in carrying out the upgrading programmes.
The Main Upgrading Programmes (MUP) at two precincts were rejected by the flat owners at MacPherson and Pandan Gardens and the MUP at Teck Whye was postponed, then withdrawn after the MUP was scrapped by the HDB. The said two MUPs failed because lessees complained that the upgrading took too long, about two years and that it was too noisy, dusty and a lot of inconveniences caused. In the case of the MUP at Marine Terrace, the sub contractor there went bust and could not continue with the work. The cost of upgrading at that time was a factor. The inclusion of the space addition item (SAI) was another problem as well. I believe that the Government was surprised that the residents rejected the MUP especially when they think that the MUP offered was for the benefit of flat owners.
The MUP was halted at about 2004 and subsequent new upgrading programmes have come on stream. Following the MUP there was the interim upgrading programme (IUP) followed by the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) and the LUP Plus, then came the Hawkers’ Upgrading Programme (HUP) to be carried out by the NEA. After which came the Home Improvement Programme (HIP), then the neighbourhood renewal programme (NRP). The last two programmes, namely the HIP and the NRP were announced by the Prime Minister at his National Day Rally speech on 19 August 2007 and not surprisingly, Potong Pasir was not included in the lists of HIP, NRP and all the other upgrading programmes mentioned above. May I ask the Minister what is the reason for Potong Pasir for not being included in the above mentioned upgrading programme although Potong Pasir is eligible for it, and will Potong Pasir ever be included in the above categories for upgrading, if so when?
It is very unfair of the Government to discriminate against Potong Pasir. Potong Pasir for the last 20 years has been completely deprived of any upgrading benefits. Millions of dollars have been spent, but Potong Pasir has not benefited even one cent of those funds spent on upgrading public flats. Are Potong Pasir residents not Singapore citizens? Don’t they pay income tax, don’t their sons do National Service? The Government should use public funds fairly for the benefit of all constituencies including the Opposition ones.
Despite the fact that Potong Pasir has not benefited at all from the HDB upgrading programmes, I still support the Bill.