Two separate incidents of items such as cardboard broken tiles and paper stuffed in the walls of a Housing Development Board (HDB) home and paper wrappers stuffed in the wall of a HDB lift landing were reported over the weekend, sparking structural safety concerns.

In one case, a Woodlands resident reported to the Chinese daily that he saw paper wrappers stuffed in a gap between the metal frame of a lift landing door and the wall on both the 10th and 11th floors of Block 729 Woodlands Circle.

The resident noticed the exposed stuffing a few months ago as renovation works were being carried out at the lift landing. Responding to safety concerns, HDB said yesterday that the stuffing does not affect the structure of the building but noted that the method is not an acceptable practice:

“Although it does not affect the structure of the building or the operation of the lift, the method used by the building contractor is not an acceptable industry practice.”

Noting that the paper was stuffed into the gap in an attempt by the contractor had intended to fill a small gap caused by “localised misalignment between the beam and lift door jamb” in order to facilitate tiling work, when the building was first built, HDB added that contractors will need to rectify works in situations where they do not adhere to approved drawings or use approved materials.

In a separate incident, a Tampines resident whose flat was undergoing scheduled redevelopment works under the Government’s Home Improvement Programme (HIP) was shocked to find cardboard, broken tiles and electrical wiring stuffed in the walls of her home.

HDB has said that it is investigating the Tampines incident, that follows another case in August when another Tampines resident found newspapers stuffed in the sidewalls of his flat’s balcony.