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Singapore's parking woes: PAP profits by making trouble
One smells a bad omen of yet another round of levy hike looking at a recent Straits Times article that bemoans a lack of parking space.
The article begin by putting the blame on the pace of growth in car ownership has overtaken that of HDB's carpark-building programme.
However, the real reason seems to be government's bad planing, or worse scarcity creation for profiteering, even with advance knowledge of vehicle increase, thanks to the COE system.
The number of HDB carpark spaces has risen from 539,800 in 2005 to 557,000 as at June this year - a 3.2per cent rise.
But the number of HDB households - the bulk of Singapore households - with a car has grown by 26.3per cent to 310,400 over the same period. And the number with more than one car has shot up by 76.5per cent to 45,900.
In addition Straits Times tries exonerate HDB for rigging parking lot supply by putting the blame to Auditor General for rapping the Housing Board in 2005 for building far more carparks than are needed.
Hence, HDB now has no balls and its only adding 1,800 parking spaces this year, an expansion of less than 1 per cent. Anyway, whoever wants to restrict supply, whether it is HDB or Auditor General, makes no different. All of them belongs to the PAP government.
Besides, HDB is a good boy trying very hard to solve the problem--by collecting more monies from us. HDB now has electronic parking at 189 carparks and will extend it to another 300, the spokesman said. Where night parking is allowed, it has doubled charges to $4.
Many years ago, PAP sold us the idea of COE by telling us Singapore is too small. And so, the poor people must not own a car. Meanwhile, PAP tells us that Singapore is too big enough for importing 3-4 million foreigners, to a population of 6.5 million.Below PAP uses "land limited" again to justify under building car parks.
'......the car population has just gone beyond what the infrastructure can take.'
HDB said it was a challenge to match supply with demand.
'As land is limited, it is not tenable to keep adding carparks indefinitely. HDB needs to balance the needs of other residents and safeguard land for other uses, such as precinct facilities and recreational areas,' said a spokesman.
It is customary for Straits Times to set the tone before any policy. Be prepared for further hike in parking.
http://veritas-lux.blogspot.com/
One smells a bad omen of yet another round of levy hike looking at a recent Straits Times article that bemoans a lack of parking space.
The article begin by putting the blame on the pace of growth in car ownership has overtaken that of HDB's carpark-building programme.
However, the real reason seems to be government's bad planing, or worse scarcity creation for profiteering, even with advance knowledge of vehicle increase, thanks to the COE system.
The number of HDB carpark spaces has risen from 539,800 in 2005 to 557,000 as at June this year - a 3.2per cent rise.
But the number of HDB households - the bulk of Singapore households - with a car has grown by 26.3per cent to 310,400 over the same period. And the number with more than one car has shot up by 76.5per cent to 45,900.
In addition Straits Times tries exonerate HDB for rigging parking lot supply by putting the blame to Auditor General for rapping the Housing Board in 2005 for building far more carparks than are needed.
Hence, HDB now has no balls and its only adding 1,800 parking spaces this year, an expansion of less than 1 per cent. Anyway, whoever wants to restrict supply, whether it is HDB or Auditor General, makes no different. All of them belongs to the PAP government.
Besides, HDB is a good boy trying very hard to solve the problem--by collecting more monies from us. HDB now has electronic parking at 189 carparks and will extend it to another 300, the spokesman said. Where night parking is allowed, it has doubled charges to $4.
Many years ago, PAP sold us the idea of COE by telling us Singapore is too small. And so, the poor people must not own a car. Meanwhile, PAP tells us that Singapore is too big enough for importing 3-4 million foreigners, to a population of 6.5 million.Below PAP uses "land limited" again to justify under building car parks.
'......the car population has just gone beyond what the infrastructure can take.'
HDB said it was a challenge to match supply with demand.
'As land is limited, it is not tenable to keep adding carparks indefinitely. HDB needs to balance the needs of other residents and safeguard land for other uses, such as precinct facilities and recreational areas,' said a spokesman.
It is customary for Straits Times to set the tone before any policy. Be prepared for further hike in parking.
http://veritas-lux.blogspot.com/
Usually bought my ciggies on my weekly travel to JB and smuggled it inside the car... Guess got to really make the effort to quit smoking...
