‘Why did it take so long?’ Marsiling Rise residents to finally get lift upgrading, slated for 2026 completion
Blocks 115 and 119 in Marsiling Rise were selected for HDB’s lift upgrading programme in December 2020. ST PHOTO: RYAN CHIONG
Kok Yufeng
Transport Correspondent
JAN 15, 2023
SINGAPORE - Two 13-storey Housing Board blocks in Marsiling will finally get direct lift access on every floor after years of complaints from residents and lobbying by politicians, including during the 2020 General Election.
Blocks 115 and 119 in Marsiling Rise, which have lifts that stop only on the first, fifth, ninth and 12th storeys, were selected for HDB’s lift upgrading programme (LUP) in December 2020.
The project was then put to an official poll in late December 2022, and about 95 per cent of residents voted in favour of it – well beyond the 75 per cent of votes needed.
With the voting done, HDB said works will start in the first quarter of 2023, with the upgrading expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.
The works include diverting underground cables and pipes to make way for new lift shafts, which can take six months to a year.
Residents were told about the news during an informal gathering held on Jan 6 by Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad. Printed circulars were also given to each household.
Speaking to The Sunday Times at the gathering, Mr Zaqy said the LUP vote was pushed back slightly, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which shut the construction sector down for a period of time.
“Even if we wanted to award the tender, we couldn’t. No one was going to bid, or they would have put in very high bids. So it was not feasible,” Mr Zaqy said.
The Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Defence also cited his experience with LUPs in his previous constituency – Chua Chu Kang GRC – as to why he was able to push the project through.
With another LUP in his ward at Block 176 Woodlands Street 13 set to go to a vote in February, he added: “It was about building trust and getting residents on board.”
When The Sunday Times visited Blocks 115 and 119, the mood was mixed.
While there was much joy and relief, the years of inconvenience and the length of time it took – and will take – for the blocks to get the much needed upgrade have left a bitter taste.
Block 115 resident Fathima Zohra, a quadriplegic, said it was great news that the authorities are upgrading the lifts, but she hopes it can be done more quickly.
Currently, the 26-year-old takes 20 to 30 minutes just to safely make her way down two flights of stairs to get to the lift located one storey below her flat.
Ms Zohra suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident in 2017, and her family used to have to carry her and her wheelchair down the stairs. A staircase climber gifted to her last year has made the process easier.
However, without direct access to a lift until 2026, Ms Zohra, an inclusive employment recruiter at social enterprise Inclus, said she is considering moving away as she cannot be as independent as she would like to be. “I work full-time, and I am not someone who usually stays at home. So having to be carried all the time is extremely inconvenient,” she said.
The lift upgrading will improve accessibility to the blocks’ residents. ST PHOTO: RYAN CHIONG
At Block 119, a 65-year-old resident who wanted to be known only as Madam Cheng recalled the painful decision she had to make, putting her 89-year-old mother, who has mobility issues, in an old folks’ home as her flat does not have lift access.
Another Block 119 resident, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Ali, said she injured her right knee and shin in a fall while climbing down the stairs to her flat just a few weeks ago. “I am very happy that there will be a lift near my doorstep. But I am also sad that it took so long,” the 65-year-old housewife said.
Residents also said that they felt cast aside and frustrated when other blocks in the neighbourhood got new lifts. The lack of communication from the authorities did not help, and the reasons given for not upgrading the lifts of the two blocks were unconvincing, they added.
In a 2020 report by Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao, former Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Ong Teng Koon had said that the layout of the two HDB blocks and the site terrain would have led to upgrading costs that exceeded HDB’s cost cap of $30,000 per household.
For Block 115, for instance, the cost of upgrading would be higher as it sits on a hillside and has a unique architectural design, Mr Ong said in response to a petition started by the Singapore Democratic Party in January that year that got about 500 signatures.
The opposition party also raised the lift upgrading issue on the campaign trail for the 2020 General Election.
Residents of Blocks 115 and 119, including one who wanted to be known only as Mr Nga, said they were willing to pay more for the lifts, and the authorities should have given them more options in terms of cost-sharing.
“We have people here with a real need,” said the 77-year-old engineer, recounting how a family member had to be carried down the stairs during a medical emergency as the ambulance crew had trouble accessing his flat.
“Tell me what technical issues cannot be solved in this day and age? If we had to pay, then we would do it. But there was little consultation,” Mr Nga added.
When asked why Blocks 115 and 119 were selected for the LUP only now and how the site challenges will be overcome, HDB said only that it had exercised flexibility after reviewing appeals from the grassroots adviser and residents.
It did not say how much the lift upgrading would cost, but National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Tuesday in a written parliamentary reply to Jurong GRC MP Ang Wei Neng that some LUPs may cost more than $200,000 per household.
Residents of Blocks 115 and 119 said they were willing to pay more for the lifts, and the authorities should have given them more options in terms of cost-sharing. ST PHOTO: RYAN CHIONG
HDB said the Government subsidises up to 90 per cent of the cost of LUPs, while the town council pays a portion of the remainder.
Hence, Singaporean households that benefit from LUPs pay up to only $3,000, depending on their block configuration and flat type. Permanent resident households must pay the full upgrading cost.
HDB also said that the LUP solution at Blocks 115 and 119 is more complicated because they are segmented blocks. These are HDB blocks designed to offer greater privacy, with two units sharing a common floor landing, or segment.
Consequently, new lift shafts and lift openings have to be added to every segment of the blocks, HDB said. In addition, one of the two existing lifts will be upgraded, while the other lift will be shut down.
There are also fewer benefiting units within the two blocks – 48 at Block 115 and 53 at Block 119 – than with other LUPs.
“Given the magnitude of the LUP and the number of residents involved, HDB has the responsibility to ensure that the lift solutions are practical and economically viable,” a spokesman told The Sunday Times.
More generally, HDB said it has adopted “innovative technical solutions” over the years, including using lifts that do not have a machine room at the top of the shafts and smaller “home lifts”.
There are still about 140 HDB blocks where it is not possible to implement the LUP due to high costs, or existing technical and site constraints, HDB added.
But it said it will continue to explore new methods to bring down LUP costs, as well as other alternatives to improve accessibility for residents living in flats without direct lift access.
