Singapore – “Build the sidewalk already,” said opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) leader Dr Chee Soon Juan in a Facebook post on Monday (Mar 1).
Dr Chee highlighted the experience of one Madam Chen Jin Yan, who informed him that a vehicle had “knocked into” her when she was walking on the service road near Block 190 at Bukit Batok.
“I was already walking close to the side of the road,” said Madam Chen. “There were two vehicles passing each other when one of them knocked into me.”
The driver of the vehicle even scolded her for walking on the road. “But there isn’t anywhere else to walk on,” she explained. “The road doesn’t have an accompanying sidewalk.”
Dr Chee noted that another resident had been observing the sidewalk situation for years. “It’s just a matter of time before an accident happened,” said the anonymous observer.
“Residents in the area have been asking the Jurong-Clementi Town Council (JRTC) to build the sidewalk, and many of them signed a petition which was submitted to the TC on Saturday (Feb 27),” said Dr Chee.
The TC’s general manager, Mr Jeffrey Wong, replied to the petition, saying, “In considering the viability of building a walkway, the safety of the residents is important to us.”
Then there should be no further argument. “Build the sidewalk already,” said Dr Chee.
“Don’t wait until a tragedy like the fire in Blk 210A strikes before the Member of Parliament apologises and then decides to do something,” he added. “By then, it’ll be too late.”
He was referring to the incident in December 2019, when a 60-year-old woman succumbed to injuries after being rescued from the 13th floor of a unit on fire at Block 201A, Bukit Batok.
Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighters tried to access the hose reels at the block to put out the fire but discovered that the cabinet was locked. After breaking it open, they found that the hose reels were dry. The fire then had to be extinguished using water from SCDF’s emergency vehicles./TISG
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