Saturday, August 4, 2007

New HDB Parking Scheme For Children To Visit Parents Regularly

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 03 August 2007

A series of focus group discussions and public dialogues known as the HDB Heartware Forum saw residents come up with ideas to preserve family and community ties when it was held earlier this year.

In response, the government will be implementing a new Family Season Parking Scheme to make it easier for children to visit their parents regularly.

HDB will be offering a 50 percent discount for the second season parking ticket to HDB residents who have already bought a regular season parking ticket at their own residential car parks.

Related Video Link - http://tinyurl.com/2swf3m [Channel News Asia Video News]

Currently, HDB residents pay season parking rates of S$65 per month to S$90 per month, depending on the kind of car parks they have at their estates.

Under this family support scheme, they can enjoy savings of S$32.50 per month to S$45 per month when they purchase a second season parking ticket to park at their parents' HDB car parks.

HDB will also refine its priority schemes for flat allocation, so that newlyweds will have a higher chance of getting a place near their parents in HDB sales exercises.

Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said: "We do have a limited number of flats and the more priority we accord to one group means there will be less chances for the others, so we have to strike a balance here.

"We are looking at how we can improve the chances for the newlyweds, but at the same time, be mindful that there are some who want to purchase new flats for upgrading purposes."

More will also be done to foster a sense of ownership among the residents, beginning with the Canberra Division in Sembawang GRC.

MP Dr Lim Wee Kiat said he would start a new three-stage consultation process in his constituency, which will be used for an upcoming project to clean up the precinct.

Dr Lim said: "What we will do is, we will monitor and we will reduce the cleaning frequency within the particular estate, hoping that in reduction of the cleaning frequency, we will pass these savings back as rebates in conservancy charges to the residents."

HDB will also amend the Joint Selection Scheme, applicable to residents affected by the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS).

It will soon allow six households, instead of four, to jointly select replacement flats at the same site.

To further engage the residents, the National Development Ministry will launch a Resident Community Portal to allow them to interact via features like blogs, chatrooms and podcasts.

This portal will be ready by December this year. - CNA/so

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