Doctor Can Tender For Unit

Source : TODAY, 20 Aug 2007

HDB unable to offer direct allocation for new sites

Letter from Ng Leong Keng
Deputy Director (Policy & Planning) for Director (Properties & Land) Housing & Development Board (HDB)

I refer to the letter “Clinic is part of our community, not just a business” (Aug 14) by Mr Francis Hong.

Under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) for Dover Road Estate announced in July 2004, 22 rental shops, two rental eating houses and the flats in the area would be cleared by 2010.

Mr Hong appealed to the HDB to allocate a shop unit at the new site to a family doctor affected by the clearance, so that he can move together with the residents. There are two clusters of precinct shops nearby for the Sers replacement site at Dover Crescent. The HDB has built six shops, one eating house and one supermarket at this site.

To ensure that residents can obtain basic services nearby, at least one of the shops will be intended for clinic use.

Given the reduced number of shop units at the replacement site, the HDB is unable to offer direct allocation of a new shop unit to the particular clinic as suggested by the writer.

For tenants affected by the clearance, the HDB has adopted the tender system to allocate the shop units. Existing tenants, including the affected clinics, will enjoy a rental discount of 10 per cent if their bids for the new shops at Dover Crescent or other HDB shops are successful.

In addition, eligible tenants will also receive an ex-gratia payment. We note that the tenant of one of the affected clinics has already successfully tendered for a unit nearby at Tanglin Halt Road.

As for Blk 28 in Dover Crescent mentioned by Mr Hong, it was affected by the clearance in 1997. The HDB could directly allocate shops to the affected tenants then, as there were sufficient units available to cater to the majority of tenants.

Since 1998, the HDB has been providing a smaller number of shops at replacement sites, to achieve a more optimal balance in the number of shops to cater to residents’ needs.

For shop tenants affected by clearances since 1998, the HDB no longer offers a direct allocation of a shop unit. We thank Mr Hong for his feedback.