Workers’ Party (WP) member Yee Jenn Jong has pointed out that issues involving ramps also plague residents in People’s Action Party (PAP) wards as he highlighted how frequent indiscriminate parking renders an accessibility ramp in Marine Parade GRC useless and that the authorities allegedly turned down and ignored a resident’s suggestion on how to resolve the issue.
The accessibility ramp in question is located in the Kembangan-Chai Chee division of Marine Parade GRC, which is represented by PAP MP and Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin. The ramp was built to link public housing flats and the coffeeshop and shops in the vicinity to the nearby private houses.
According to a resident who met Mr Yee during his walkabout in the area, those who wish to use the accessibility ramp are often times unable to do so as many drivers would park their cars in such a way that it blocks the exit of the ramp, even though it is illegal to do so.
Revealing that he was told that the issue inconveniences wheelchair users and cyclists, Mr Yee shared on Saturday (26 Oct):
“A resident told me that an accessibility ramp was build to link the flats to the private houses, a useful facility as there are shops and a coffeeshop at the flats to service the area. However, many would park their cars indiscriminately at the exit of the ramp even though it is marked with double yellow lines and there is a fire hydrant nearby.
“…There wasn’t any cars parked there when we were there around 630pm today but residents told us that very often cars do park there and totally disabled the ramp as wheelchairs and bicycles cannot exit from the ramp safely onto the road. He said once someone had a nasty fall trying to squeeze out of the ramp when blocked by a car.”
The resident apparently told Mr Yee that the Land Transport Authority – a Government statutory board under the Ministry of Transport – was informed about the situation but responded that they will not be able to take further action. Mr Yee said: “The resident said that LTA has been informed but they said it is already illegal to park there so they cannot do anything more.”
Mr Yee immediately suggested that LTA could install a surveillance camera in the area with a big warning sign that the area is being monitored 24-hours to deter illegal parking. The resident, however, revealed that he made the same suggestion to the LTA and was turned down.
Revealing that the resident told him that his attempts to highlight the matter to other authorities were also ignored, Mr Yee noted the irony in the fact that there were cameras warning against indiscriminate parking at a carpark located just metres away from the ramp:
“I immediately offered a simple solution. Just ask LTA to put a surveillance camera there with a big warning sign of 24-hour monitoring. Surely drivers won’t dare to park when they see the sign.
“Precisely, the resident said. He suggested that but it was turned down. He brought the matter to other authorities but was ignored. Ironically just a few metres away at the HDB car park there are cameras facing the car park warning against indiscriminate parking there.”
The Independent has contacted the LTA for comment and will update this article once we receive a response.
Accessibility ramps have been in the news in recent weeks, after WP secretary-general Pritam Singh asserted that a simple ramp in Aljunied GRC that could have been built in a matter of months took seven years to be completed due to “political double standards”:
Pritam Singh says he has proof that PA grassroots groups commonly ignored AHTC’s upgrading proposals
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