Lift issues continue to plague three Punggol West estates
SINGAPORE — After an overall decline in lift-related complaints in Punggol West since last October, “unacceptable” incidents have cropped up again at three estates, prompting the ward’s Member of Parliament Sun Xueling to take matter up with the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
SINGAPORE — After an overall decline in lift-related complaints in Punggol West since last October, “unacceptable” incidents have cropped up again at three estates, prompting the ward’s Member of Parliament Sun Xueling to take matter up with the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
“It is unacceptable that a lift technician is nowhere to be found for 3½ hours. It is also unacceptable that right after servicing, the same lift breaks down again the next day,” Ms Sun, a Pasir Ris-Punggol group representation constituency MP, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
She was referring to the issues “plaguing” Punggol Arcadia, Punggol Regalia and Punggol Residences.
After going through the lift issues with the town council, Ms Sun sent findings to the HDB on Tuesday and made two recommendations.
She suggested having a lift maintenance team on standby, to “step in when the lift contractor is unresponsive or has shown itself incapable of rectifying faults”.
The second suggestion is tougher action against the lift contractor, Sigma. HDB needs to “hold the contractor accountable for the current unacceptable state of affairs and for the lift contractor to provide concrete steps to rectify (the problems)”, she told TODAY.
Residents at the three estates said they have encountered lift doors that do not shut properly, unresponsive lift buttons and lifts that abruptly stall, among other issues.
Ms Sun said that lift complaints for Punggol West had halved since last October, but complaints for the three estates within the ward have gone up by 30 to 50 per cent in the past two months. She said she will be meeting the HDB next week.
In response to TODAY’s queries, the HDB said: “We will work with the town council and the lift contractor, Sigma, to improve the performance of these lifts.”
Ms Sun said she had met the lift contractor in July to push for rectification works in Punggol Arcadia in August. A schedule was agreed on and put up around the estate to inform residents.
The works have been completed but complaints about faulty lifts have continued to surface, she said.
When contacted, Sigma Singapore’s general manager Adreana Goh said it has increased the frequency of lift maintenance and enhancement works at “various locations”.
“These services require the lifts to be taken out of service temporarily, which may have resulted in some inconvenience to residents,” said Ms Goh. “We are committed to improving the operation of our lifts and are working closely with our customers to monitor and enhance the equipment performance.”
Sigma, whose lifts make up nearly 15 per cent of the 24,000 public housing lifts here, has been suspended since October 2015 from tendering for new HDB projects because of its failure to meet installation deadlines and higher-than-normal breakdown rates of lifts it installed recently. The HDB said in January this year that it would only be able to tender for new projects after the government agency is satisfied that its lift performance and service standards are able to meet HDB’s requirements.
The HDB said the issues with the lifts in the three Punggol West estates were unrelated to its move to suspend Sigma.
“These incidents involved lifts that were installed five to six years ago, while the tender restriction reported early this year involved a recent batch of lifts installed by Sigma,” a spokesperson said.
Residents from the three estates, which are about five years old, said they were told the town council is looking into their lift woes. Punggol Regalia resident Leslie Toh, 42, said lift buttons were unresponsive and there was often a lag in lift operations. His family was once almost hit by a closing door even though the “lift open” button had been pressed.
Ms Karen Choo of Punggol Residences — where the 3½-hour wait for the lift contractor mentioned in Ms Sun’s Facebook post took place — said lift doors would “open and close continuously for no reason at all”. The 39-year-old’s family has encountered multiple such instances since moving in five years ago.