Resident asks Chee Soon Juan to reach out to Murali Pillai after he fell into an uncovered drain in Bukit Batok

A resident who fell in an uncovered drain in Bukit Batok urged the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Chief Chee Soon Juan to reach out to Member of Parliament (MP) Murali Pillai or to the Jurong-Clementi Town Council (JRTC) on the matter.

In his letter, the resident wrote that he fell into a drain that did not have a drainage cover. The incident happened along the walkway between the Bukit Batok Bus Interchange and MRT station. The resident sustained a bruised knee.

He said: “I am concerned that other people, particularly the elderly and wheelchair-bound, may not be so lucky if they accidentally fall into these drains”.

“I hope you will be able to reach out to the JRTC…or Mr Murali Pillai to retrofit drainage covers along the full stretch of the walkway”, the resident added.

Referring to a proposal by Mr Pillai, Dr Chee a Facebook post on Tuesday (Sep 29) said a resident wrote: “Ask them to build a sheltered walkway for residents to walk to the bus stop [and] they go build one unnecessarily at the market where it will simply make it more claustrophobic than it already is”.

According to plans shared by Mr Pillai, a shelter is being proposed for the open space at the market at Blk 154A.

The resident pointed out that the proposed shelter was probably for the HDB to cram in more shop-space to make more money.

“Covering the open space will make it dank and will see more crowding which is problematic given the era of Covid-19.

Rat infestation (for which, unfortunately, BB has gained notoriety) could be another problem”, Dr Chee wrote.

In his Facebook post, Dr Chee added: “I have seen many elderly people using the open concourse to sit around in the mornings. Will the structure cut down even further space that residents have to gather?

“What about community building? Must every available space be built up and covered? This is a serious problem where grand structures are often proposed by the PAP for election purposes but which serve little purpose and which residents don’t want but have to pay for”, he added.

In his post, Dr Chee mentioned several other complaints by the residents and promised to monitor the situation.

“As with the previous matters, I will be forwarding these to JRTC for its attention”, he added. /TISG