Town councils must set aside 14% of conservancy fees for lift replacement
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — As part of continued efforts to improve lift safety, all town councils will have to set aside at least 14 per cent of their service and conservancy charges (S&CC) collections and government grants for lift replacements from April.
This comes on top of the town councils’ regular contributions to the sinking funds, which amount to another 26 per cent or more of their collections, and the Ministry of National Development (MND) will be upping their financial assistance to the town councils to help them cover their costs.
These will take the form of an increase in the S&CC operating grants it currently gives to town councils, and additional grants to match part of the town councils’ contributions to their Lift Replacement Fund (LRF). Details of the MND assistance measures will be released separately, the ministry said yesterday.
The MND had said last year that town councils would have to set up a dedicated LRF for future lift replacements, after a series of accidents cast the spotlight on lift safety and reliability, including a fatal one involving a 77-year-old man on a mobility scooter, who fell while exiting a lift that had stopped some 15cm above ground level.
The Building and Construction Authority introduced tougher lift maintenance requirements last year, while the Housing and Development Board announced a S$450 million Lift Enhancement Programme to help fund town councils’ cost of retrofitting older lifts with safety features and enhancements commonly found in newer lifts, such as additional sensors to detect obstructions to the lift door. Some 20,000 lifts that have been in operation for 18 years or less are expected to benefit from the programme.
Stressing that, with more expenditure needed to maintain and replace ageing infrastructure, the MND said town councils would have to plan ahead and contribute more to their sinking funds to pay for major expenses, such as the repainting of HDB blocks, maintenance of building facades, replacement of lifts and water pumps.
It added that town councils must plan ahead “prudently and responsibly”, ensure that their long-term finances are sustainable, and build up their sinking funds and LRF over time.
Previously, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong revealed that the total Sinking Fund balance across all town councils was about S$1 billion, which was insufficient to cover the cost of future lift replacements, estimated at almost S$3 billion from now to 2035 for some 11,500 lifts across all HDB estates.
In a statement, Dr Teo Ho Pin, coordinating chairman of the PAP Town Councils, noted that its town councils had been “facing rising cost pressures” in its estate maintenance, with expenditures having increased significantly in the areas of lift maintenance, conservancy and pest control work.
With estates getting older, “more cyclical maintenance work” would have to be carried out.
Asked whether the S&CC would be raised, Mr Teo, who previously said a hike could not be ruled out, responded: “The PAP Town Councils will continue to adopt a prudent approach to provide quality maintenance services to our residents.”
Nee Soon Town Council chairman Louis Ng, who is also Member of Parliament for the constituency, said the 14 per cent minimum criteria was a “reasonable” amount to set aside for future use, given that lift replacements are “not a cheap exercise”, costing about S$130,000 to S$200,000 each.
“This increase in allocation is important, so that over the years, we can accumulate and have sufficient funds to do replacements if and when (they are) needed … As a mature estate, Nee Soon Town Council anticipates increased expenditure to maintain and replace our ageing infrastructure assets,” he said.
MP Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC), chairman of Chua Chu Kang Town Council, agreed on the need to set aside more funds, but noted that the impact of doing so might vary for different estates. For example, new towns such as Punggol and Sengkang have a “longer runway” to accumulate enough funds for lift replacement.
MP Ang Wei Neng (Jurong GRC), chairman of the Jurong-Clementi Town Council, said that it would be “challenging” to meet the new requirements if the authorities do not increase the grants to town councils significantly. In the meantime, the town council would also try to control costs, such as by improving productivity.
Workers’ Party MP Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC), chairman of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, said the town council would wait for more information from HDB before commenting.
