Potong Pasir & Hougang now eligible for lift upgrading programme
SINGAPORE: For the first time, opposition-held Potong Pasir and
Hougang will be eligible for the Lift Upgrading Program (LUP) for 65
precincts islandwide.
Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu revealed
this to the media on Monday at a Home Improvement Programme event.
Residents received upgrades to their piping, laundry areas and
electrical systems and 33,000 more households across Singapore are
expected to benefit from the scheme over the next three years.
The programme is expected to cost S$1 billion.
They were also given the option to upgrade their toilets, doors and
grilles, with up to 95 per cent of this cost being subsidised.
Lee Kwai Heng, upgraded flat owner, said: "If you get your own
contractor, where can you get such a good price? I know someone from
upstairs who got someone in to do the same works before this scheme and
they paid S$20,000."
Even more popular among residents is the Lift Upgrading Programming
and the ministry said the timing is right to go ahead with it.
Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, National Development Ministry,
said: "We've seen that construction costs are showing signs of decline.
So, it's a very good time for us because there are resources that are
available in the market. So the government intends to increase our
efforts in lift upgrading projects."
When asked by journalists if the surprise announcement - to include
Opposition wards Potong Pasir and Hougang in the programme, was
deliberately timed, Ms Fu said the move had been planned for a while.
Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong and Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang were not available for comment.
Residents in both wards welcomed the news, especially the elderly.
Said one elderly resident: "Upgrading the lifts will definitely
benefit the senior citizens, because they are old and maybe they have
weaker legs."
Residents will find out in a few months if any of their blocks will be amongst the 1,000 which get the upgrade in this exercise.
The entire project expected to be completed in 2014.
Since the programme started in 2001, about 80 percent of the eligible blocks built before 1990 have received new lifts.
This year's LUP had 15 more precincts selected than last year.
- CNA/vm