Up To $10m More A Year For Private Estates’ Upgrading

Source : The Straits Times, Sunday, 26 Aug 2007

CHANGES to the seven-year-old Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP) for private estates will further improve the living environment for private estate residents.

New measures announced yesterday by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan and Minister of State for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua will see private housing estates get better coordination in major upgrading works as well as access to extra funding.

The scope of the Estate Upgrading Committee, which currently manages projects in private estates, will be widened to oversee and coordinate all major upgrading works across the different public agencies.

The committee, which is chaired by Parliamentary Secretary for National Development Mohamad Maliki Osman, will also see senior representatives from public agencies such as the National Parks Board and the Land Transport Authority on it.

These will help tackle the problem of a lack of coordination - a complaint residents from private estates have raised.

Another change will give private estates access to the Community Improvement Project Committee (CIPC) funds, something which only HDB estates are allowed to touch at the moment.

These funds can be used for minor improvement projects such as a playground, ramp or barbecue pit, or for maintenance works.

‘When we did the survey, not many private estate residents wanted big upgrading plans,’ said Mrs Lim, referring to studies done by the Committee on Private Estates, which she headed. ‘They just wanted things to work.’

Soon, newer private estates will be able to tap on these funds without having to wait for the EUP, which is typically open to estates aged at least 30 years.

A $700,000 pilot programme will be initiated in three GRCs: Aljunied, Holland-Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar to test out the effectiveness of these changes.

Since the EUP started in 2000, about 23,000 homes in 30 private estates - out of more than 200,000 private homes - have been upgraded. These include Serangoon Gardens, Hoover Park and Opera Estate.

The Government sets aside about $20 million each year for EUP projects. Mr Mah, who was given a tour of Braddell Heights, said it will bump up the EUP budget by $5 million to $10 million each year. This amount will come from CIPC funds.

Braddell Heights is one of five estates in the latest batch chosen for EUP. It will undergo a $5.5 million upgrading over a two-year period starting early next year.