TODAY ONLINE : Infringements? URA investigating

Infringements? URA investigating

Agency looking into possible planning lapses as Indian national is arrested for Filipina's murder

05:55 AM Mar 19, 2010

by Shaffiq Alkhatib shaffiq@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE - The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is looking into whether there were any planning infringements at Peony Mansion, an ageing apartment building along Bencoolen Street.

The building made headlines this week when a Philippine national was found dead with stab wounds early on Monday, in her rented room on the fifth floor.

On Wednesday at 4pm, a 34-year-old male Indian national was arrested in connection with the death of Ms Roselyn Reyes Pascua, 30. The man will be charged in court today with murder and faces the death penalty if convicted.

When MediaCorp visited the building on Monday, a tenant had said that rooms in the nine-storey building were available for rent for about $25 a night. A notice on the property, meanwhile, stated that action would be taken against sex workers who used the premises as a brothel.

In response to queries, the URA said it had not received applications for residential units in the apartment building to be converted for use as a boarding house.

It said appropriate action would be taken if necessary. An enforcement notice may be served on the owner and/or the persons responsible.

If they do not stop the unauthorised use, they may be charged in court and, if convicted, could be fined up to $200,000 or jailed for up to 12 months, or both.

Peony Mansion was built in the 1960s. It can be used as a hotel or boarding house as the site is within the Bencoolen Street area, where there are a number of such establishments, but planning approval must first be obtained to convert the existing residential units, said URA.

The conversion would also have to be done on an entire floor or building basis.

Copyright 2010 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved