We refer to Ms Julia Ng’s letter “Stricter enforcement, checks needed to ensure quality flats” (May 20).
Under Section 18(1) of the Town Councils Act, town councils are required to manage and maintain common property in public housing estates, including Design, Build and Sell Scheme projects. Thus far, all other town councils have done so without issue.
Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council’s (AHPETC) statutory duty to manage and maintain Parkland Residences’ common areas commenced on Nov 12.
It refused, however, to perform its duty until the developer handed over a list of documents and items specified by AHPETC.
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has clarified that these were not required for AHPETC to do its day-to-day cleaning. Even so, the HDB has assisted by liaising with the developer to provide AHPETC with the documents and items.
The HDB also asked the developer to clean the estate in the interim to ensure the hygiene of residents’ living environment would not be compromised. The developer agreed to this and has been cleaning the estate since Nov 12.
We wish to clarify that service and conservancy charges collected by AHPETC are not collected on behalf of the HDB. We understand that AHPETC has agreed to manage and maintain Parkland Residences’ common property from June 1.
Pending AHPETC’s execution of its duties, the HDB will work with the developer to ensure the estate is maintained for the benefit of residents.
