Why can't HDB upgrading project include lifts on every floor?

IN LAST Friday's letter, 'Lifts at every floor a necessity, not luxury', Mr Teng Nee Peng made a valid point that even when the HDB does a major upgrade, it may fail to include lifts that stop at every floor.

I have been a resident of Potong Pasir for the past 12 years. Last November, the town council put up notices that the lifts at every block would be replaced. This caused a lot of confusion as to whether the lifts would stop at every floor.

The same month, one lift in most blocks was shut down and the replacement programme began. Residents had to endure the inconvenience of just one working lift in each block. After three months, the new lifts were operational - but they did not stop at every floor.

My question is, how much more time and money would it have cost to have the lifts stop at every floor, especially in blocks with corridors linking all units?

When I asked town council members, they said they wanted to install such lifts, but were not given approval by the HDB.

Can the authorities clarify why such a programme was undertaken, when costs could have been saved by replacing the lifts as well as having them stop at every floor? Why was the approval not given when so much time, money and inconvenience could have been saved in finishing all the works concurrently?

S.W. Rajan