ST : Lift upgrades for more Potong Pasir blocks

Nov 8, 2010

Lift upgrades for more Potong Pasir blocks

Announcement comes a week after similar one for Hougang

By Teo Wan Gek

A SECOND batch of Housing Board blocks in opposition-held Potong Pasir and Hougang has been identified for lift upgrading, with the announcements coming within a week of each other.

The People's Action Party (PAP) adviser to grassroots organisations in Potong Pasir, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, said three precincts in Potong Pasir Avenue 1 and Avenue 3 - comprising a total of 22 blocks - will be offered the lift upgrading programme (LUP).

'This is a mature estate and residents welcome news of the three additional precincts,' he told The Straits Times yesterday after a community event in Potong Pasir Avenue 1.

He said earlier that the LUP was 'a good thing for residents, especially the elderly ones'.

In July last year, the National Development Ministry announced that 65 precincts, including those in the two opposition wards, would be selected for LUP. Three months later, Mr Sitoh said that nine blocks had been picked.

The event he attended yesterday was a gathering of residents from that first batch of flats to discuss questions about the design and costs involved.

His announcement that 22 more blocks were being offered LUP came a week after the PAP grassroots adviser in Hougang, Mr Eric Low, made a similar one. Mr Low told Hougang residents on Oct 31 that 32 blocks in three precincts would be offered LUP. These were in addition to the six blocks he announced in October last year.

Mr Sitoh, who lost twice in Potong Pasir to Singapore People's Party chief Chiam See Tong, declined to comment yesterday when asked about the timing of his latest announcement and a general election, due by February 2012.

Anticipation about the polls has heightened since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's disclosure on Oct 30 that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee, which maps out changes to constituencies, had been convened.

Mr Low, on the other hand, told The Straits Times that the timing of his announcement in Hougang last week was 'mere coincidence'. He acknowledged that some would see it as a political move, but said this was only because he represented the PAP in Hougang.

Mr Low, who was twice unsuccessful against Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang, revealed that a straw poll earlier this year in Hougang found about 90 per cent of residents from the first batch of blocks supported LUP.

But he said the LUP was no guarantee of a sure-win for him: 'Whatever I do, it depends very much on the mood at that time an election is called.'

The announcements last year to offer LUP to opposition wards earlier represented a shift in position by the Government, which had said after the 2006 election that the wards would be 'at the end of the queue' for LUP.

The Straits Times spoke to more than a dozen Potong Pasir and Hougang residents about the recent announcements. Most said it would not impact on how they voted as the Government had already said the constituencies would be eligible for LUP.

'So it's only a matter of time (before) we get it,' said Hougang resident and delivery driver Tan Ping Hua, 58.

But Potong Pasir resident Ang Chong Lai, 34, whose block is in line for LUP, said now was the best time for the PAP to 'pour in incentives'.

With talk that Mrs Lina Chiam could replace her husband in the ward, 'this may be the best time for the PAP to turn voters to their side', said the director of a new media company.

Residents said they would also assess Mr Chiam and Mr Low Thia Khiang based on their track records.

Landscape designer and Hougang resident Ong Kuee Fen, 57, said of Mr Low Thia Khiang: 'He has been here for so long. He has served us well.'

Added technical officer David Kwa, 45, who has lived in Hougang for 15 years: 'I will vote in support of the LUP, but that does not mean I will vote for the PAP.'

wangekt@sph.com.sg