Singapore — One Sengkang woman has taken over the lift landing outside her HDB unit for three whole years, filling it with stacks of belongings and causing concern of a potential fire hazard, which her neighbours have complained about.
The Town Council has repeatedly told her to clear the area, putting up warning notices for the woman, who lives at Block 228B Compassvale Walk, to comply with. However, after a few days, the clutter returns.
The woman reportedly buys secondhand items from others and then uses the public area outside her flat as a warehouse for storing them.
Photos in Shin Min Daily News show items such as suitcases have reached even the staircase landing.
Other items in the photos include large and bulky items such as refrigerators, furniture, mattresses, and cabinets, as well as papers and boxes.
Some items are neatly stacked on shelves and look like they are waiting to be sold, while others are stored rather haphazardly.
Shin Min Daily News, which sent a reporter to the area, said that there was only a one-meter wide space between the stored items for passersby to get to the lift along the common area.
And while most people are able to pass, the narrowness of the corridor can prove difficult to negotiate for the elderly or disabled.
Some neighbours have had to warn their children to be careful around the items as to not get scratched.
If an emergency such as a fire should occur, residents would have difficulty evacuating.
The Chinese Daily reported one neighbour as saying that the woman sometimes has visitors over to look at her stored items and buy them.
The report also said that while the woman acknowledged that the town council has given her notices regarding her clutter, she refused to disclose what she would do with all her items.
Common area clutter is not uncommon in Singapore. In one instance in August, one netizen took to social media to expose an “Irresponsible Neighbour” who put six fish tanks in the common area.
In another example from July, a woman returned to a flat she owned and was shocked at the number of things that had accumulated there.
After she posted about the mountainous clutter at this HDB common area, it got cleared up quickly, leaving netizens shocked at the power of social media. /TISG
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