Tampines residents protest during dialogue session with MP

Now is the turn of Tampines residents to protest against the building of rental flats in their constituency. Like Pasir Ris residents, they were shocked to discover that the vacant lot in front of Block 885 along Tampines Street 83 will be used to build 234 units of rental flats.

HDB had made the announcement without consulting with residents. As a result, 80 residents submitted a petition to MP Sin Boon Ann, expressing their concerns over the plan and asked for the construction work to be halted.

The residents raised three concerns: rental flats blocking wind to their units, security problems and the value of their flats will drop.

Mr. Sin conducted a half-an-hour dialogue session with the residents to allay their concerns.

He urged Tampines residents to spare a thought for needy Singaporeans in the community, as the shortage in rental flats will not meet rising demands.

The construction of the flats will go on as planned and is slated to be completed by 2012. It is not known, however, if they will be leased out to Singaporeans or foreign workers.

Lately, two blocks of flats in Toa Payoh had been converted by HDB to rental flats for foreign workers from Resorts World Sentosa.

During an event celebrating HDB’s 50th anniversary, former Singapore Chief Statistician Dr. Paul Cheung suggested that HDB rent some blocks of flats to private property firms to lease out to foreigners at a rate that's lower than that of condos.

Tampines GRC is helmed by Minister for National Development, Mah Bow Tan, who is becoming increasingly unpopular among some Singaporeans for his housing policies.

In the next general election, at least three opposition parties have indicated that they will compete in Tampines GRC to give Singaporeans a chance to assess the track record of Mr. Mah.

In response, MM Lee Kuan Yew stated that if Tampines residents cast a protest vote against Mr. Mah over sky-rocketing prices of HDB flats, then they must be “daft”.