<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>Coffee Shop Talk - No help for private estate spoilt by FTs</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">sgnews <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">Sep-10 6:10 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>3203.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>No help for private estate spoilt by foreign workers
I WOULD like to share my views as a resident of a private estate that is near many foreign workers' dormitories. Many of these dormitories are leased illegally by contractors to house large numbers of foreign workers in the area.
Every evening, the workers congregate in the private carpark and on the pavements of my estate. At about midnight, residents end up with heaps of peanut shells, beer bottles (sometimes broken), vomit, urine, packets of leftover food and snacks and sometimes even faeces. Sometimes in the morning, you can also see some drunk foreign workers sleeping on the five-foot way.
The residents of this private estate have had to spend their own money to have a cleaner work an extra shift in the morning to clear the rubbish. We have had to install lights in the back alley to deter workers from urinating in the garden and drains. The residents have to caution their children from walking on the pavement in case they step on broken glass. The residents have to pay a pest control company to fumigate the place in case of dengue and deter cockroaches, rats and strays from eating the litter.
All these cost money, borne by residents. The authorities may ask Singaporeans to be understanding and accommodating to these foreign workers. Ultimately, residents have to live with the slum-like environment they cause. The authorities do not care because we live in a private estate. Our MP shrugged off the problem, as that is what residents have been told - to be understanding and accommodating.
I seek the authorities' understanding in this matter. Perhaps it is time representatives of the authorities took a stroll through my neighbourhood to experience the pong and litter themselves. It is one thing to be grateful to these foreign workers for their contribution but another for the us, as taxpayers, to have to subsidise the inconvenience and damage caused.
May I ask contractors and companies to be mindful and considerate when sourcing housing for their workers, and housing agents who act as middlemen for these companies and landlords. Please spare a thought for us poor residents.
Leslie Lee
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I WOULD like to share my views as a resident of a private estate that is near many foreign workers' dormitories. Many of these dormitories are leased illegally by contractors to house large numbers of foreign workers in the area.
Every evening, the workers congregate in the private carpark and on the pavements of my estate. At about midnight, residents end up with heaps of peanut shells, beer bottles (sometimes broken), vomit, urine, packets of leftover food and snacks and sometimes even faeces. Sometimes in the morning, you can also see some drunk foreign workers sleeping on the five-foot way.
The residents of this private estate have had to spend their own money to have a cleaner work an extra shift in the morning to clear the rubbish. We have had to install lights in the back alley to deter workers from urinating in the garden and drains. The residents have to caution their children from walking on the pavement in case they step on broken glass. The residents have to pay a pest control company to fumigate the place in case of dengue and deter cockroaches, rats and strays from eating the litter.
All these cost money, borne by residents. The authorities may ask Singaporeans to be understanding and accommodating to these foreign workers. Ultimately, residents have to live with the slum-like environment they cause. The authorities do not care because we live in a private estate. Our MP shrugged off the problem, as that is what residents have been told - to be understanding and accommodating.
I seek the authorities' understanding in this matter. Perhaps it is time representatives of the authorities took a stroll through my neighbourhood to experience the pong and litter themselves. It is one thing to be grateful to these foreign workers for their contribution but another for the us, as taxpayers, to have to subsidise the inconvenience and damage caused.
May I ask contractors and companies to be mindful and considerate when sourcing housing for their workers, and housing agents who act as middlemen for these companies and landlords. Please spare a thought for us poor residents.
Leslie Lee
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