Elderly neighbour raises concern over fire risks from charging mobility aids and electric scooters in corridor

SINGAPORE: An elderly resident complained that his neighbours were parking their mobility aids and electric scooters outside their units and even charging them in the corridor. When his octogenarian mother tried to stop them, the neighbours declared that the HDB flats were not her own “territory.” 

The 57-year-old resident said his mother worries about this issue, as batteries have been known to malfunction and catch fire. He claimed that he and his neighbour were on good terms for quite some time, but now their relationship was strained due to noise problems and concerns about mobility aids.

According to him, his neighbour bought the mobility aid seven or eight years ago and placed it outside their unit, blocking the walkway. 

“I would often see them charging it outside the unit or even ‘connecting’ it to the stairwell. I felt it was dangerous, so I reported it to the relevant authorities,” the man stated. 

Moreover, he and his 86-year-old mother saw a neighbour charging batteries outside the apartment and decided to take photos as evidence. When the neighbour saw what they were doing, the neighbour rushed over as if to hit them. 

“My mother told the neighbours she was worried about a fire, but they retorted that this was a government-built flat, not our property,” the man added. 

The man indicated that his neighbour has two mobility aids and one electric bicycle, and one of the mobility aids belongs to a female resident in the unit. Their neighbours later moved their devices to the ground floor of the HDB block, but recently, the man saw two mobility aids and an electronic bike once again parked at the stairwell. 

“They’ve been parked downstairs for six months, and now they’ve moved them upstairs again. It’s very dangerous.” 

He added: “Since my mother is often alone at home, the consequences of a fire would be unimaginable.” 

To address this issue, the man said he sent his complaint through the OneService app multiple times, and the town council had put notices next to the stairs. However, these were all torn down. Furthermore, a resident on the same floor pointed out that he knew the neighbour would place the mobility aids at the stairwell, but he had never seen them charging outside. 

The town council admitted that they are aware of residents charging their devices in the corridors and declared, “Our team has communicated with the residents in question and advised them not to charge their devices in the corridor. Since then, the residents have not done so.”